Dermatology
Minimum referral criteria
All requests are categorised using state‑wide urgency criteria, condition‑specific as below.
Category 1 - Seen within 30 days |
Category 2 - Seen within 90 days |
Category 3 - Seen within 365 days |
Services
- Treatment for skin, hair and nail disorders.
- All skin rashes, infections or conditions in adults if:
- standard treatment fails to treat the problem or
- there is doubt about underlying diagnosis.
Conditions
Exclusions
- No paediatric service available – for patients aged < 16 years, see non-acute paediatric assessment.
- Acne mild to moderate not requiring Isotretinoin (Roaccutane)
- Allergy skin‑prick testing
- Androgenic alopecia
- Bacterial infections/tinea including Pityriasis versiculor
- Common cutaneous malignancies – for malignancies requiring complex management consider non-acute general surgery assessment
- Focal alopecia areata (unless diagnostic doubt or scarring)
- Hirsutism
- Leg ulcers (unless diagnostic concern regarding etiology)
- Mild or moderate childhood atopic eczema
- Mild discoid eczema, xerosis or generalised pruritis
- Patients aged < 16 years – request non-acute paediatric assessment
- Plaque psoriasis (unless widespread)
- Sexually transmitted infections – request non‑acute sexual health assessment
- Skin checks
- Treatment for cosmetic problems or problems requiring laser therapy
- Urticara or angiodema (unless failed response to maximum histamine 1 and 2 blockade with > 4 recommended doses or H1 blocker with ranitidine)
Information for dermatology referrals
- standard information
- condition-specific information
- relevant pathology and radiology results (printed for the patient and sent with the referral).
- indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations due to cost or local unavailability
Standard information for all referrals
Reason for request
- To establish a diagnosis
- For treatment or intervention
- For advice and management
- For specialist to take over management
- Reassurance for general practitioner or second opinion
- For a specified test or investigation the general practitioner can't order, or the patient can't afford or access
- Reassurance for the patient or family
- For other reason (e.g., rapidly accelerating disease progression)
- Clinical judgement indicates a referral for specialist review is necessary
Patient's demographic details
- Full name (including aliases)
- Date of birth
- Residential and postal address
- Phone contact numbers – home, mobile and alternative
- Medicare number (where eligible)
- Name of the parent or caregiver (if appropriate)
- Preferred language and interpreter requirements
- Identifies as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Referring practitioner details
- Full name
- Full address
- Contact details – phone, fax, email
- Provider number
- Date of referral
- Signature
- Patient's usual general practitioner (if different from above)
Relevant clinical information about the condition
- Inclusion of Clinical Prioritisation Criteria (CPC) where relevant
- Presenting symptoms (evolution and duration)
- Physical findings
- Investigations carried out and results as indicated in the relevant pathway
- Details of previous treatment (including systemic and topical medications prescribed) including the course and outcome of the treatment
- Options already pursued
- Body mass index (BMI)
- Details of any associated medical conditions which may affect the condition or its treatment (e.g. diabetes), noting these must be stable and controlled prior to referral
- Current medications and dosages
- Drug allergies
- Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs use
Clinical modifiers
- Impact on employment
- Impact on education
- Impact on home
- Impact on activities of daily living
- Impact on ability to care for others
- Impact on personal frailty or safety
- Identifies as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Other relevant information
- Willingness to have surgery (where surgery is a likely intervention)
- Choice to be treated as a public or private patient
- Compensable status (e.g., DVA, WorkCover, motor vehicle insurance)
Information for your patient
Expected time frame for appointment notifications
- Once the request is received, categorisation by the hospital will occur.
- General practitioners and patients are notified of the assigned category between 14 days to 1 month after completed request is received.
- Patients are usually notified of the upcoming appointment time and date approximately 4 weeks prior unless short notice appointments become available.
Appointment information
- Patients will be given an appointment via phone, SMS, or letter.
- The patient must contact the hospital to reschedule if they are not able to attend.
- If the patient fails to respond to 2 appointment offers:
- They will be discharged back to their general practitioner.
- They can have a new request for assessment sent to the hospital if the need still exists.
- The patient's first appointment may not always be with a specialist. Where appropriate, the request may be sent to a public allied health or nursing service for initial assessment and management. A specialist assessment may then be arranged or ruled out.
Ask your patient to:
- take a list of current medications, and all relevant radiology films and reports to appointments.
- advise of any change in circumstance (e.g., getting worse or becoming pregnant), as this may affect the request for assessment.
- update their contact details (e.g., phone number and address) with the hospital.
Last updated: 24 January 2020
