Health Services We Fund

The Referral System: Key Principles

The key principles underlying the referral system are clarity, timeliness and fairness: clarity, where patients know whether or not they will receive publicly funded services; timeliness, where services can be delivered within the available capacity, patients receive them in a timely manner; and fairness, ensuring that the resources available are directed to those most in need. All patients referred to hospital by their GP who can be seen within the available resources, are seen for a first specialist assessment within six months. Those patients with higher acuity are given higher priority and will be seen in a shorter time frame.