E-Referral coming to RPAH Women’s and Babies services

From Wednesday, 27 April 2022 general practitioners will be able to use HealthLink SmartForms from their practice software or the HealthLink portal to launch e-Referrals to the following services:

• RPAH Fertility
• RPAH Gynaecology
• RPAH Maternity

For general practitioners without Best Practice, Genie or Medical Director practice systems, referrals can be lodged using the HealthLink portal, or -during the transition period – via fax using the new fax coversheet which enables digitisation of your faxed referral.

To support the new process a new fax number will be introduced for Gynaecology referrals – (02) 9515-0998 (effective 27 April 2022).
Practitioners may wish to update their fax machine address books accordingly. Existing fax numbers for RPAH maternity and fertility services will remain unchanged.

Practitioners who are unable to use HealthLink SmartForms must submit their referral with the dedicated coversheet to the appropriate fax number as indicated above.

What’s changing on 27 April 2022:

Being introduced

• HealthLink SmartForms for referrals to Fertility, Gynaecology & Maternity at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital will be in your HealthLink service list – look for Sydney Local Health District Women’s Health
• New Fax coversheet to be used for all referrals to the three services for GPs who are not e-Referral enabled or downtime
• New fax number for Gynaecology referrals – (02) 9515-0998 (effective 27 April 2022).
• Fax digitisation of referrals using the new dedicated coversheet
• A new Referral Management and scheduling platform at the clinic end to manage all e-Referrals, faxes and paper referrals in one place
• GP confirmations of receipt and triage outcomes for submitted eReferrals
• SMS and email patient notification of referral progress

Being removed/changed

• Removal of patient online first appointment booking form
• Removal of current GP Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Fertility referral forms/templates
• Move away from paper-based referrals and walk-in referrals
• Patients self-booking for Birth Centre deliveries will be advised to obtain a valid GP referral.

All ‘in flight referrals’ will be managed as per standard working processes. All of these service changes will be reflected on HealthPathways Sydney. These changes do not affect current referral practices for Canterbury Hospital.

For more information on E-Referrals to RPAH Women’s and Babies as well as other SLHD service please contact the SLHD GP e-Referral Project Team on:  0477 735 472 or 0459 885 531, or email: SLHD-EReferralProject@health.nsw.gov.au