Write a referral letter
Refer a patient to a doctor, a department or a hospital, with what the record already says, and print the letter.
- Where
- Practice portal
- Who can do this
- Doctor, Midwife, Nurse and Staff
Use a referral letter when a patient needs to be seen by another doctor, a department of your own hospital, or another hospital. It carries the reason and what the next clinician needs to know.
Steps
- Open the patient's visit and choose the External labs tab.
- Choose Write a referral letter.
- Fill in Doctor, department or hospital, Reason for the referral and Clinical summary.
- Check Supporting information. It starts with the visit's latest diagnosis, the medicines in force, the allergy answer and the latest readings. Change it, and add anything else the next clinician needs.
- Tick Inside this practice if the letter goes to a colleague or department of your own hospital. Tick Urgent if it cannot wait.
- Choose Record this letter.
- On the entry, choose Print referral letter and print it or save it as a PDF.
What to expect
The letter shows the hospital's name and address, the patient's details, the date and who wrote it, then the reason, the summary and the supporting information. A letter that stays inside your hospital says so.
The letter is printed. It is not emailed from here.
When the other doctor replies, type the reply in with Transcribe a report on the same entry, and a clinician records reading it.