What to do before you submit a referral
Before you submit a referral, please make sure you check the HealthPathways management and referral guidelines.
If you submit an incomplete category 1 referral, the hospital will accept it but contact you to provide the missing information. The hospital will decline other incomplete referrals.
If the hospital declines your referral, recheck the criteria in HealthPathways. In some cases, the hospital may contact you to request missing information. Some specialties may also provide clinical management advice in writing to support the referring GP.
The hospital may suggest a referral to a specific hospital specialist, your patient will still be able to access care at Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service without a named referral.
When the hospital gets a referral, they’ll let you and the patient know. If you use GP Smart Referrals you'll be able to see the status of a referral in the Smart Referrals software.
How to submit a referral
You can send referrals electronically using GP Smart Referrals or Medical Objects, these are the preferred options. You can also send them by fax.
Smart referrals
Smart Referrals includes the following key components:
- GP Smart Referrals (GPSR) - provides seamless and integrated capability allowing you to create and submit electronic referrals from existing practice software
- Referrals Service Directory (RSD) - provides details of public specialist services and the necessary clinical business requirements to support referral lodgement
- Referral Lodgement and Tracking (RLaT) - provides technical capability to facilitate digital lodgement and tracking referrals across the state
- Smart Referrals Workflow - provides digital capability to facilitate the seamless receipt, registration and triage of specialist outpatient referrals.
When you send a referral using Smart Referrals, you’ll be able to see the waiting times at the point of referral. You'll also be able to see the status, for example accepted, declined etc.
Learn more and get further resources about Smart Referrals on the Queensland Health website.
If you have any issues submitting a referral or you need IT support, call the Smart Referral Hotline on 1300 478 439.
Medical objects
When sending referrals using Medical Objects, use NQ45600007J or QHealth, Sunshine Coast Ambulatory Care Centre. For Health link: qldnghop.
Sunshine Coast and Gympie HealthPathways
You can find referral criteria and contact information on the Sunshine Coast and Gympie HealthPathways website.
The Sunshine Coast and Gympie HealthPathways is a hospital referral guideline that includes the Queensland Government Clinical Prioritisation Criteria. It provides clinical assessment, management and referral advice for health providers. Hospital clinicians and general practice teams developed the pathways together.
GPs are encouraged to use HealthPathways at the point of care. Other health professionals in the Sunshine and Gympie region can also use it. This includes hospital specialists, nurses, allied health and other health professionals.
If you’d like access to Sunshine Coast and Gympie HealthPathways please complete the access request form.
How to refer a patient to a primary care Sunshine Coast fracture clinic
You may be able to manage simple fractures and soft-tissue injuries yourself. However, if you aren’t comfortable managing these yourself, you can refer patients to a primary care fracture and soft tissue injury service. These are available at several locations on the Sunshine Coast.
The service is bulk-billed and includes plaster or fibreglass casts, crutches, and braces and splints, e.g. moon-boots, if required.
If you're a GP, you can refer a patient directly to one of the primary care fracture clinics.
This option is also available to patients with injuries who are either:
- seen in the Emergency Department
- referred to the Orthopaedic Fracture Clinic.
You can find referral information on the Fracture Clinic Assessment page on HealthPathways.
How to refer a patient to a Sunshine Coast or Gympie Emergency Department
GPs don’t need to call the emergency department prior to referral unless you're seeking clinical advice.
Make sure your patient has their referral letter with them. You can fax any additional information to the emergency department if you need to. It's important to check HealthPathways for the correct fax numbers.
If your patient is arriving by ambulance, make sure they have their referral letter and any clinical handover documents with them.
How to refer a patient to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services
You can refer a patient to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Team by emailing the team at SC-AandTSI-Admin@health.qld.gov.au.
You can also find contact information for culturally appropriate services in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services Reference guide [PDF 1.7 MB].
How to update or upgrade a referral
If your patient’s condition or circumstances have changed you may need to update or upgrade their referral. You can do this by re-submitting the referral with an explanation of the changes.
For urgent upgrade requests it's essential that you check the referral criteria on HealthPathways before re-submitting. This will help determine what information you need for an upgrade request.
If you’re using an electronic template, select the upgrade option, otherwise please clearly mark the referral as ‘upgrade request’.
Outpatient waiting times
Waiting times vary. You can get an idea of waiting times for outpatient appointments on the Queensland Health performance website. Please select the Seen tab to see the last quarter's and average number of days waiting by specialty.
After an outpatient appointment the hospital may also place a patient on an elective surgery waiting list.
Keep your information up to date
Update your details to keep up to date with Queensland Health information or any other STS Address Book Enquiries
To update your details you can call 1800 198 175 or 07 3726 4880 or email STS_External-Alerts@health.qld.gov.au.