Referral Access Criteria

Referral Access Criteria (RAC) are clinical decision support tools that will standardise the referral process for public outpatient services in Western Australia (WA).

RAC will be used by referring practitioners when referring into the WA public outpatient system and the Central Referral Service to assess and allocate referrals to the appropriate hospital.

Referrals will only be accepted if all ‘mandatory referral information’ is included with the referral.

RAC have been developed to:

• improve access for patients who require specialist review in public outpatient clinics
• improve communication between referrers and specialist clinics
• improve consistency in referral acceptance and triaging practices
• ensure that patients who are suitable to be managed in primary care do not wait unnecessarily on hospital outpatient waitlists
• improve referral quality.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Acute and chronic otitis externa – Adult

Acute hearing loss – Adult

Acute onset or progressive blurred vision – Adult

Acute visual distortion – Adult

Age related macular degeneration – Adult

Allergic eye disease – Adult

C

Cataracts and assessment for cataract surgery – Adult

Chalazion / meibomian cyst – Adult

Chronic hearing loss – Adult

Chronic middle ear disease – Adult

Cognitive dementia and memory – Adult

Colonoscopy (direct access) - Adult

D

Diabetic retinopathy / diabetic eye disease – Adult

Diplopia – Adult

Dizziness / vertigo – Adult

Dysphonia / hoarseness – Paediatric

E

Ear drum perforation – Adult

Ear wax – Adult

Ear wax – Paediatric

Ectropion – Adult

Entropion – Adult

ENT – Adult

ENT – Paediatric

Epilepsy and seizures – Adult

Epiphora (watery eyes) - Adult

Epistaxis – Adult

Epistaxis (recurrent) – Paediatric

F

Facial nerve palsy / Bell's palsy – Adult

G

Gastrointestinal endoscopy (direct access) - Adult

Gastroscopy (Direct Access) - Adult

Giant cell arteritis / temporal arteritis – Adult

Glaucoma (chronic open angle glaucoma) – Adult

H

Haematuria / Bladder lesion – Adult

Head and neck mass (ENT) – Adult

Headache or migraine – Adult

Hearing loss – Paediatric

L

Lid lesions – Adult

Lower urinary tract symptoms – Adult (female)

Lower urinary tract symptoms – Adult (male)

M

Movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease and dystonia – Adult

N

Nasal fracture – Adult

Nasal fracture (acute) – Paediatric

Neck mass – Paediatric

Neurology referral criteria – Adult

O

Obstructive sleep apnoea – Adult

Ophthalmology – Adult

Oral and pharyngeal lesions – Adult

Otitis externa – Paediatric

Otitis media with effusion (OME) or Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) – Paediatric

P

Penile, scrotal and testicular abnormalities – Adult

Peripheral neuropathy – Adult

Plaquenil / hydroxychloroquine screening – Adult

Progressive loss of neurological function – Adult

Posterior capsular opacity – Adult

Progressive corneal disease (including fuch’s dystrophy and keratoconus) – Adult

Prostate cancer (suspected/confirmed) – Adult

Pterygium – Adult

Ptosis – Adult

R

Recurrent acute otitis media with or without perforation – Paediatric

Recurrent, uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) – Adult

Renal mass – Adult

Retinal vein occclusion – Adult

Rhinosinusitis – Adult

Rhinosinusitis – Paediatric

S

Salivary tumour, disorder or sialolithiasis (salivary stones) – Adult

Sleep disordered breathing / Obstructive sleep apnoea – Paediatric

Strabismus (squint) – Adult

Stridor – Paediatric

Stroke / transient ischaemic attack (TIA) – Adult

T

Thyroid associated orbitopathy – Adult

Thyroid mass – Adult

Tinnitus – Adult

Tonsillitis (recurrent) or tonsillar enlargement – Adult

Tonsillitis (recurrent) – Paediatric

U

Upper Aerodigestive Tract Problems including Dysphagia, Dysphonia and Globus – Adult

Urinary incontinence – Adult (female) 

Urinary tract calculi – Adult

Urology – Adult

V

Vasectomy