New statewide referral criteria for a range of children and adult dermatology conditions come into effect from 1 November 2025 in all Victorian public hospitals. Patients can be placed on a specialist clinic wait list when a referring GP provides information that shows the referral meets the new children’s and adult dermatology criteria. The criteriaRead more
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New statewide referral criteria for a range of children’s ear, nose and throat conditions come into effect from 1 November 2025 in all Victorian public hospitals. Patients can be placed on a specialist clinic wait list when a referring GP provides information that shows the referral meets the new children’s ENT criteria. The criteria identifyRead more
New statewide referral criteria for select hernia, oesophageal and hepatobiliary, colon and anorectal conditions potentially requiring general surgery, come into effect from 1 November 2024 in all Victorian public hospitals. When a referring GP successfully uses the new general surgery criteria to refer a patient to a public hospital, patients can be triaged more accuratelyRead more
New statewide referral criteria for select respiratory conditions and sleep disorders come into effect from 1 November 2024 in all Victorian public hospitals. When a referring GP successfully uses the new respiratory criteria to refer a patient to a public hospital, patients can be triaged more accurately and be placed directly onto the appropriate specialistRead more
New statewide referral criteria for select breast conditions potentially requiring general surgery, came into effect from 1 June 2024 in all Victorian public hospitals. When a referring GP successfully uses the new general surgery criteria to refer a patient to a public hospital, patients can be triaged more accurately and be placed directly onto theRead more
New statewide referral criteria for plastic surgery and joint pain come into effect from 1 March 2024 in all Victorian public hospitals. When a referring GP successfully uses the new criteria for plastic surgery or joint pain to refer a patient to a public hospital, patients can be placed directly onto the specialist clinics waitRead more
New ‘companion’ statewide referral criteria for category one patients with specific indications that require colonoscopy or gastroscopy come into effect from 1 February 2024. The criteria are: positive faecal occult blood test (FOBT) – diagnostic colonoscopy dysphagia – diagnostic gastroscopy. It’s important to note that the use of the new criteria is not mandatory. They areRead more
Read the key messages below and download a PDF version with social media posts. When are GP respiratory clinics closing? All Victorian Government funded general practice respiratory clinics (GPRCs) have ceased operations as of Tuesday, 31 October 2023. Why are GPRCs closing? GPRCs were conceived and funded as a valuable temporary response in the earlyRead more
The Infection Prevention and Control Helpline, funded by the Victorian Department of Health, was made available in June 2021, to ensure patient and staff safety was maintained during the pandemic. Now that COVID infections no longer warrant an emergency response and primary care providers are proficient in infection prevention and control processes, the dedicated HelplineRead more
New statewide criteria for long COVID are now in effect across Victoria, making it easier for patients and GPs to navigate referrals to specialist hospital services for the small number of patients who may need specialist support. GPs are being urged to check their local HealthPathways or care pathways website when considering a referral forRead more