State-wide referral criteria for specialist clinics

Referral criteria for Victorian specialist clinics

Victorian public hospitals will begin to implement the revised suite of statewide referral criteria from 1 November 2022, to provide guidance to referring clinicians about what patients will be seen and the investigations required to support triage in specialist clinics.

Clinical Review Panels have completed a review of statewide referral criteria published between 2018 and 2020, to bring them up-to-date with the latest advice and clinical guidelines, including reference to ongoing symptoms post COVID-19.

GPs and other referring clinicians should access the updated statewide referral criteria through Murray HealthPathways - see below for details.

What happens when a referral is incomplete or declined?

  • Referrals that do not meet the statewide criteria are expected to be declined by all Victorian public hospitals. When this happens, referring clinicians should receive correspondence from the health service explaining why the referral has not been accepted.
  • If a referral is declined due to being incomplete - that is, there is missing essential information - the referring clinician must resubmit in full. Patients will not receive an appointment or be placed on a waitlist until a complete specialist clinic referral has been received.

More information

Local referral pathways with state-wide referral criteria 

Note that you must be registered and logged in to access the links below on Murray HealthPathways.

Endocrinology

ENT

Gastroenterology

Gynaecology

Neurology

Obstetrics 

Ophthalmology

Pain management

Rheumatology

Urology

Vascular

 

Page last updated 26 October 2022