Referral to emergency

If any of the following are present or suspected, please refer the patient to the emergency department (via ambulance if necessary) or seek emergent medical advice if in a remote region.

  • acute traumatic head injury with any of the following
    • nausea and/or vomiting > 4 hours post injury
    • any neurological deficits
    • altered consciousness
    • suspicion of skull fracture

Please contact the on-call registrar to discuss your concerns prior to referral.

For clinical advice, please telephone the relevant metropolitan Local Health Network switchboard and ask to speak to the relevant specialty service.

Women's and Children's Health Network

Exclusions

Triage categories

Category 1 (appointment clinically indicated within 30 days)

  • nil

Category 2 (appointment clinically indicated within 90 days)

  • traumatic closed head injury with fractured skull following emergency department presentation

Category 3 (appointment clinically indicated within 365 days)

  • nil

For more on outpatient referrals, see the general referral information page.

Essential referral information

Completion required before first appointment to ensure patients are ready for care. Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.

  • identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 
  • identify within your referral if you feel your patient is from a vulnerable population, under guardianship/out-of-home care arrangements and/or requires a third party to receive correspondence on their behalf
  • interpreter required
  • relevant past medical/surgical history
  • current medications, allergies
  • history of presenting complaint including:
    • traumatic event
    • onset
    • duration
    • concerning features
  • neurological examination findings
  • confirmation of diagnosis on imaging and associated reports including location, company, and accession number