Standardising Patient Referral Information: a Draft National Template for Consultation

Both HIQA and the ICGP-GPIT facilitator group have been working towards the development of a national referral template for use by GPs when referring patients to hospitals. The document has been developed following consultation with numerous stakeholders and HIQA have now released the document for consultation. We are particularly keen to get feedback from GPs on the concept, the content and the layout of this document which is available to download below. The deadline for submissions and comments is January 21st 2011.

Dr Jack MacCarthy has recently written about this concept in the December issue of Forum in an article entitled "the GP referral letter - time for something new" by Dr John MacCarthy. Dr MacCarthy would be grateful if you could send your comments and suggestions to him at jackmaccarthy@eircom.net.