Outpatient appointments are made after acceptance and triage of referrals from General Practitioners (GP), Specialists or other clinicians or following inpatient discharge for ongoing care.
The catchment map (PDF) outlines the suburb catchment areas for North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS), including SCGH. SCGH is also the tertiary catchment site for a number of country areas.
Referral to a hospital for assessment and/or treatment is based around multiple criteria. These include:
Please use this information to guide referrals to the hospital servicing your patient's postcode and inform your patients of these criteria when you are referring them for public hospital services via the Central Referral Service (more information below).
Named referrals are not routinely accepted for out of catchment patients unless clinically appropriate e.g. state-wide services only offered at SCGH and the referral is accepted for the specialty, not the individual clinician.
Referrals to specialist outpatient services must be provided in writing for all patients. All referrals must include the information listed below.
Referrals which do not contain sufficient information to allow accurate triaging of the priority of the referral will be returned to the referrer.
Immediate referrals can be sent via email, or by fax. CRS referrals are preferred via electronic file.
Referral form templates (external site) can be downloaded into practice software for GP use.
Referrals written on a Practice Letterhead will also be accepted on the proviso that they contain minimum referral criteria as outlined above.
Immediate referrals are those which are discussed with a speciality, accepted to be seen within seven days and sent direct to site.
All other referrals are clinically triaged as:
Urgent: Category 1 (0 – 30 days) Semi-Urgent: Category 2 (31 – 90 days) Routine: Category 3 (91 – 365 days)
Referrers are able to flag referrals sent through Central Referral Service (CRS) as priority referrals when required, which will result in rapid review and triage.
Please note there are a number of specialities with waiting times outside of the triage categories. If you are concerned about a deteriorating patient, please consider contacting the speciality or sending an updated referral through CRS.
If you think the patient requires immediate review (to be seen within seven days) then you should contact the Registrar of the relevant specialty. If accepted for immediate review, send your written referral direct to SCGH either by email to SPoRT@health.wa.gov.au or by fax to (08) 6457 4159 unless otherwise directed by the Registrar.
Details of the accepting medical officer the patient has been discussed with must be included in the referral to prevent any delays in care.
The below services accept referrals sent direct to site, not through CRS:
For more information and further contact details, visit the WA Health GP website (external site).
The WA Health Central Referral Service (external site) commenced in 2014. As of this date, all non-immediate GP referrals to doctor-led outpatient clinics within the North Metropolitan Health Service hospital network should be sent to the Central Referral Service. Referrals sent direct to site will be returned to the referrer to ensure a consistent referral pathway unless otherwise directed.
Referrals to CRS should be made by a doctor or nurse practitioner – do not give the referral to the patient to send to CRS. Referrals may be sent to CRS electronically (preferred), by fax, or by mail.
Healthlink Secure Messaging: ‘crefserv’
Fax: 1300 365 056 Email: centralreferralservice@health.wa.gov.au MMEx Secure Messaging: central@mmex.gsmhn.com.au Postal Address: PO Box 3462, Midland WA 6056
Patients are welcome to bring a carer or family member with them to outpatient appointments. If there is a need to liaise directly with the patient’s carer or relatives for clinical reasons, please ensure this is listed on the referral and their details provided.
If General Practitioners or private specialists have any queries regarding referral requirements, please contact the Central Referral Service on 1300 551 142.
For queries regarding an immediate referral (see within seven days) contact the Registrar or Consultant of the relevant specialty at the relevant hospital through the hospital switchboard.
Interhospital referrals (hospital to hospital) are accepted solely via eReferrals. The only exception to this are the following services:
These excepted services can send referrals either by email to SPoRT@health.wa.gov.au, by fax to (08) 6457 4159 or as directed by the speciality.
Central Referral Service (CRS)
Tel: 1300 551 142 Fax: 1300 365 056 Email: centralreferralservice@health.wa.gov.au Postal Address: PO Box 3462, Midland WA 6056 Web: ww2.health.wa.gov.au (external site)
SCGH Emergency Department
Tel: (08) 6457 3333 ED Duty Consultant Admitting Line: (08) 6457 4266 Fax: (08) 6457 2620
Immediate Review Referral
Fax: (08) 6457 4159 Email: SPoRT@health.wa.gov.au
Health Pathways (external site)
Central Referral Service Guide for Referrers (external site)