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 urinary retention
  • severe/uncontrolled haematuria
  • urinary tract sepsis/systemic infection
  • severe/uncontrolled abdominal pain
  • hypertension with abdominal mass

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

  • angiolipoma — refer to nephrology
  • asymptomatic renal cyst < 1 cm

Triage categories

Category 1 (appointment clinically indicated within 30 days)

  • complex cystic lesion greater than 4cm
  • mucosal/collecting system lesions
  • any solid renal mass
  • suspected malignancy, consider phoning on-call urology registrar to discuss
  • any mass of testis, para-testicular mass or bladder mass. Consider phoning on-call urology registrar to discuss

Category 2 (appointment clinically indicated within 90 days)

  • complex cystic renal mass less than 4cm without suspicion of malignant disease
  • large or symptomatic simple renal cyst
  • suspected pelvic ureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction in child > 12 months of age

Category 3 (appointment clinically indicated within 365 days)

  • nil

For information on referral forms and how to import them, please view general referral information.

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  
  • relevant social history, including identifying 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
  • age
  • past medical/surgical/psychosocial/family history
  • family history
  • current medications
  • allergies and sensitivities
  • presenting symptoms, including:
    • onset
    • duration
    • concerning features
  • height/weight
  • body mass index (BMI)
  • growth chart trends
  • blood pressure trends
  • examination findings
    • abdominal examination
    • scrotal examination, boys
  • urinalysis (dipstick) result

Additional information to assist triage categorisation

  • pathology:
    • complete blood examination (CBE)
    • electrolytes, urea and creatinine (EUC)
    • liver function test (LFT)
    • estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
    • mid-stream urine (MSU) microscopy, culture and sensitivity (M/C/S)
  • relevant diagnostic/imaging reports, including location of company and accession number