REFERRAL REQUEST RECEIVED DATE

The date the REFERRAL REQUEST was received by the Health Care Provider.

The waiting time for a first Out-Patient Appointment should be calculated from the date when the REFERRAL REQUEST is received.

• For electronic REFERRAL REQUESTS the REFERRAL REQUEST RECEIVED DATE is the date the REFERRAL REQUEST is received electronically by the Health Care Provider

• For Choose and Book, the referral is received when the PATIENT's Unique Booking Reference Number (UBRN) is used to book the first Out-Patient Appointment slot (i.e. converted).

Where an electronic REFERRAL REQUEST made through Choose and Book is rejected by the chosen provider, the ORIGINAL REFERRAL REQUEST RECEIVED DATE should be used when the PATIENT is subsequently re-referred to another service, so that  PATIENTS are not unfairly disadvantaged when their waiting time calculations are made.

In the circumstance that a PATIENT calls the national Choose and Book Appointments Line and an APPOINTMENT SLOT is not available with the chosen Health Care Provider, the national Choose and Book Appointments Line will electronically forward the REFERRAL REQUEST details to the chosen Health Care Provider so the Health Care Provider can liaise directly with the PATIENT to arrange their Out-Patient Appointment. The REFERRAL REQUEST RECEIVED DATE will be the date that the Health Care Provider receives electronic notification from the national Choose and Book Appointments Line that the PATIENT has experienced slot unavailability. (Note that this is NOT the date that the Health Care Provider opens or actions the electronic notification).

For written REFERRAL REQUESTS letters must be opened and date stamped on the day of receipt. It is this date that must be entered on any Patient Administration System (PAS) or similar system, not the date on which the information is fed into the system if this is later than the date of receipt.

If the REFERRAL REQUEST takes the form of a phone call followed by a letter, record the date when the letter arrives. If there is no following letter, the date of the verbal request should be recorded.