Referral Requirements

Referring Doctors are asked to use the Victorian State-wide Referral Form (VSRF)

Ballarat Health Services strongly recommends the use of the Victorian State-wide Referral Form (VSRF)  for all referrals to this hospital. When incorporated into your software, this form can autopopulate both demographic and clinical information which will assist in the management of your referral. Please note there are extended versions of the VSRF called VSRF plus Urology and VSRF plus Orthopaedic Hip or Knee, please utilise these when referring to specific specialist clinics.

Please include the following information on the patient referral:

• Demographic information and contact details, including next of kin/carer contact number;
• Medicare number and hospital UR number (if known);
• Referring practitioners name address, contact number, as well as those of the G.P if different to the referring practitioners;
• Referrers provider number;
• Date of referral and requested time for patient to be seen;
• Reason for referral, presenting symptoms and the duration details of associated medical conditions which may effect the presenting condition, or management;
• Relevant past history including previous treatment;
• Relevant investigations, current medications and any drug allergies;
• Name of specialty clinic referral is intended for;
• Interpreter requirements.

If referrals do not contain the above information to enable effective triage, the referral may be returned to the referrer with a request for additional information.

Please note: Under the Privacy Legislation and the Health Records Act, there is a requirement that patients provide consent before secondary health professionals can access their private test results. For the purposes of accurate triage, this consent is required at the point of referral.