This information is taken from www.uclh.org/gps/referral.shtml

Where possible, general practitioners should address all referrals as "Dear Doctor" to maximise opportunities to pool referrals and minimise patient waits. However it is of course still possible to refer to named consultants, in accordance with specialist interests or for patient preferences Please note, you may not refer patients to UCL Hospitals via email.

Written Outpatient Referrals
We have developed an optional referral proforma for GPs and GDPs to use when referring patients to UCLH. We would encourage you to use this in most cases however it is not intended to supersede those already used for cancer targets, colposcopy, gastroscopy and antenatal referrals.

Download the referral proforma in either word format or pdf format.
If you are confident that you send UCLH comprehensive referral letters, you may wish to consider using the proforma as a checklist for the information we need. The following minimum information should be included in your referral letter:

• Specialty being referred into
• Relevent medical details (i.e. current & past medical problems, medication, biochemical results)
• Reason for referral
• Referral date
• First name and surname
• NHS number
• UCLH hospital number (or whether the patient has attended UCLH before)
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Full address, including postcode of the patient
• Telephone numbers for the patient including preferred number to use
• Notification of whether the patient needs an interpreter / advocate / other special assistance
• Name and address of referring GP/GDP and practice name including phone and fax numbers
• Name and address of registered GP practice including phone and fax numbers

Please note that in the future, we may return incomplete referrals or we may not formally accept them until we have received all the necessary information.

Urgent Outpatient Referrals
In addition to the information as detailed above, GPs need to be aware of the following:

• Clearly mark the referral URGENT and address to the attention of a named consultant or department.
If there is any uncertainty about specialist interests, contact the consultant's secretary directly. Referrals can be faxed, but the consultant's secretary should be telephoned to ensure receipt.
• If it is sufficiently urgent, please telephone the relevant consultant's secretary and request that a member of the medical team contacts you immediately to discuss the particular case.
• Chest Pain Clinic: The Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic (RACPC) provides a quick and early specialist cardiology assessment for patients with new onset chest pain thought likely to be angina or for patients with known ischaemic heart disease and worsening symptoms who need urgent assessment.
• For emergency admissions, you should contact the Duty Medical Registrar or Duty Surgical Registrar, or through the appropriate switchboard.
• For urgent medical inpatient admissions you can also bleep the Physician of the Week through the UCH or The Middlesex switchboard.
• Last updated on May 2004