State-wide referral criteria (SRC) are clinical decision-support tools that give health professionals the referral criteria they need to refer their patients to public specialist outpatient services across NSW.
SRC helps people who need to see a health professional in a NSW public specialist outpatient service to be referred and prioritised in a safe and timely way. They support patients and the health professionals looking after them to make a referral, and assist NSW public specialist outpatient services with screening and triaging these referrals.
Refer to Ear, nose and throat emergencies for emergency criteria.
Adult patients (aged 16 years or over)
Paediatric patients (aged 0 to 15 years)
Some paediatric services accept referrals for patients aged 16 to 18 years, by exception. Liaise with the relevant local health district or specialty health network to determine referral appropriateness.
Refer to Ear, nose and throat presentations out of scope to understand when NSW public specialist outpatient services are generally not provided in this specialty.
Refer to Gastroenterological emergencies for emergency criteria.
Adult patients (aged 16 years or over):
Paediatric patients (aged 0 to 15 years):
Refer to Gastroenterological presentations out of scope to understand when NSW public specialist outpatient services are generally not provided in this specialty.
Refer to Ophthalmic emergencies for emergency criteria.
Refer to Ophthalmic presentations out of scope to understand when NSW public specialist outpatient services are generally not provided in this specialty.
Refer to Orthopaedic emergencies for emergency criteria.
Refer to Orthopaedic presentations out of scope to understand when NSW public specialist outpatient services are generally not provided in this specialty.
General practitioners and other referring health professionals may refer patients to specialist outpatient services. This can be for a diagnosis, procedure, assessment, treatment and/or education. If there is a change to a patient’s condition while waiting for their appointment, referring health professionals may further investigate and manage the situation, send an updated referral to the outpatient service, check HealthPathways for urgent/same day advice or contact the relevant clinical team.
Health professionals can also refer patients to the Get Healthy Service for free health coaching to reach their healthy eating and active living goals, and/or the Quitline for professional support with smoking or vaping cessation.
If you would like to provide feedback or have a question that is not listed in the FAQs, please submit an enquiry to a SRC program representative at NSW Health.
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