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Central Referral Service (CRS)
Central Referral Service (CRS)
Notice: CRS experiencing a backlog of referrals
The CRS has a backlog of referrals which is resulting in a delay in processing non-urgent referrals.
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All referrals are still being opened within 1 business day and all urgent referrals are still being processed within 1 to 2 business days. The delay for non-urgent referral processing is currently up to 15 business days. You will not receive a notification from the CRS until your referral has been allocated to a hospital site (up to 3 weeks for non-urgent).
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Please do not contact the CRS or ask your patients to contact the CRS to check on non-urgent referrals within this time-period. If you do have concerns about a specific referral, please contact the CRS team on 1300 551 142 (business hours, Monday to Friday).
CRS provides a coordinated and sustainable model for outpatient referral management across the WA public health system. The CRS was established to better manage external referrals for patients requiring a first specialist outpatient appointment within the WA public health system.
CRS is not suitable for all patients. Before submitting a referral to CRS, check if the outpatient specialty, service and region is in scope and read the step-by-step guide to submitting referrals through CRS.
In-scope referrers, referral types, specialties, locations, and services
| Send referrals through CRS |
| Referrers |
- External referrers, including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, doctors from WACHS public hospitals referring into metropolitan outpatient services, and private specialists referring into public specialist outpatient services.
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| Referral type |
- Referrals for a first specialist outpatient appointment provided at clinics within, or part of, in scope public hospital services.
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| Metropolitan specialty |
- Adolescent Medicine
- Anaesthetics (allergy only)
- Bariatric Surgery
- Breast Surgery
- Burns (post injury issues only)
- Cardiology
- Cardiothoracic
- Dermatology
- Direct Access Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- Ear, Nose and Throat
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- General Medicine
- General Surgery
- Genetics
- Gerontology
- Gynaecology
- Haematology
- Hepatobiliary
- Hyperbaric Medicine
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases
- Note: Specialties and services at Peel Health Campus are currently out of scope for CRS.
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- Interventional Neuroradiology (NIISWA)
- Medical Oncology
- Neonatal
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Ophthalmology
- Oral Maxillofacial Surgery
- Orthopaedics
- Paediatrics
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Plastic Surgery
- Radiation Oncology
- Rehabilitation
- Renal
- Respiratory Medicine
- Rheumatology
- Spinal Surgery
- Urology
- Vascular
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| Regional specialty |
South West
- Endocrinology
- Gerontology
- Haematology
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Paediatrics
Collie Health Service
- Direct Access Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- General Surgery
- Gynaecology
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Pilbara
- Cardiology (including diagnostics)
- Dermatology
- Direct Access Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- Ear, Nose and Throat
- Endocrinology
- General Medicine
- General Surgery
- Gynaecology
- Neurology
- Paediatric Medicine
- Renal Medicine
- Rheumatology
- Urology
- Vascular Surgery
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Out of scope referrers, referral types, specialties, locations, and services
| Do not send referrals through CRS |
| Referrers |
- Allied health and mental health professionals
- Internal referrers (e.g. hospital-based clinicians)
- Patients cannot submit referrals. Referrals must be sent by an in-scope referrer.
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| Referral type |
- Immediate referrals (require review within 7 days)
- Internal referrals (e.g. referrals generated from a specialist within a public hospital to public outpatient services)
- Named referrals
- Referrals for non-medical led outpatient services
- Referrals for a community-based health service
- Referrals to a private specialist
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| Specialty/services |
- Non-medical led outpatient services (e.g. allied health, nursing, pharmacy)
- Antenatal
- Obstetrics
- Mental health services
- All regional outpatient services not specified above as ‘in scope’
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| Locations |
- Peel Health Campus
- Specialist outpatient services in the Great Southern, Wheatbelt, Goldfields, Midwest and Kimberley regions
- Note: regional sites will be progressively added to scope in a staged approach.
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How to send referrals to CRS
Secure messaging
Fax: 1300 365 056
Post: GPO Box 2566, St Georges Terrace, WA 6831
Contact details
Phone: 1300 551 142
Please email for enquiries only. Emailed referrals are not accepted. Referrals that are emailed will be cancelled back to the referring practitioner for resubmission via secure messaging, fax or post. Email the CRS
Last reviewed: 18-03-2024
Produced by
System Clinical Support and Innovation Unit