Services

Referral Management Information for Patients

When a clinician completes a referral on your behalf for onward care within a specialist service, it is important that expectations are managed appropriately. Referral pathways and waiting times are determined by secondary care services, and some specialties have significantly longer waiting lists than others. Unfortunately, the practice has no control over these waiting times or referral processing arrangements.

Once we have confirmed that your referral has been sent and it is visible within your NHS App, we will not routinely chase either urgent or routine referrals on your behalf.

If you have not received any communication from the specialist service after 6 months, you may:

• Obtain the specialty's contact details via Home - My Planned Care NHS, or
• Contact the practice, and we will try to provide you with the relevant contact information so that you can contact the specialty directly.

If you have not heard from the specialist service after 12 months, the practice may then make enquiries on your behalf.

We apologise for any inconvenience, but due to limited staffing capacity, we are unable to routinely monitor or chase referrals for patients.

ASD and ADHD Referrals

Please note that ASD and ADHD referrals are not considered urgent referrals.

Once all required documentation has been received, referrals will be processed within 60 working days. The practice will only contact patients once to request any missing documentation. If the requested information is not provided, the referral will be closed.

Patients are also responsible for completing any paperwork required by their chosen provider, including forms available on the provider's website, before submitting their preferred provider choice.

Unfortunately, the practice does not have the capacity to complete this documentation on behalf of patients.