Outpatient specialist clinics

This page provides information for GPs seeking to refer patients to Outpatient Specialist Services across the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN), including Flinders Medical Centre, Noarlunga Hospital, The Jamie Larcombe Centre - Veterans mental health precinct, Aldinga GP Plus Health Care Centre, Marion GP Plus Health Care Centre, and Noarlunga GP Plus Super Clinic.

For referral information relating to other sites, please see:

• Central Adelaide Local Health Network – Royal Adelaide Hospital - Outpatients
• Women’s and Children’s Health Network – General practice Hub

Urgent referrals

For urgent referrals, please contact the relevant specialty on-call clinician through Flinders Medical Centre switchboard on (08) 8204 5511 to discuss early review.

Routine referrals

Quick links

Clinic list:

• Updated SALHN Outpatient Clinics & Community Services Contact Details (PDF 76KB)
  

Recent updates (March 2023):

• • Referrals for lipid management are now being managed by the Cardiology Outpatient department, previously managed by the Endocrinology department. Please consider addressing referrals for Lipid queries directly to the FMC Cardiology clinic, for attention of Dr Sam Lehman, to minimise any processing delays (Fax: 08 8177 1589)

• SALHN A-Z Outpatient Clinic Directory

Outpatient referral information

• SALHN Outpatient Triage and Referral Guidelines
• Quarterly specialist outpatient waiting time report (last report 30 September 2022, published 1 January 2023)
• SALHN map (indicative only)

Note: 

• • The provision of outpatient services will be based on clinical need. Referrals will be assessed and triaged based on the clinical information provided in the referral.
    
  • Some clinical services use specific catchment areas, such as Children's Assessment Team at Flinders Medical Centre and Adult community Mental Health Services Map
• Referral forms and templates for SALHN

Referral follow up and requests for clinical information

• Referral status update:
  • GP Referral Hotline: Phone (08) 8204 7886 between 10.00am — 2.00pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
    for administrative information on referrals (eg confirming a referral has been received, triaged or appointed, please wait 48 hours after sending the referral before calling, unless the referral is urgent).
  • Alternatively, contact the relevant clinic directly via SALHN Outpatient Clinics & Community Services Contact Details (PDF 76KB)

• Request for clinic letters: please contact the GP Liaison Team in FMC Medical Records - phone (08) 8204 6040, fax (08) 8204 3964, e-mail healthfmcmedicalrecordsgpliaison@sa.gov.au

Additional clinical resources

• HealthPathways SA - register for HealthPathways login
• Additional clinical support options

Routine process

Routine referrals to Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN) Outpatient specialist clinics should be made by faxing the referral to the relevant clinic using the standard template (or the clinic specific template if available). See Referral forms and templates for SALHN page.

On receipt, routine referrals are triaged to determine their urgency level, which may take up to a few weeks. This triaging process varies between departments and is greatly facilitated by referrals being aligned with the SALHN outpatient referral guidelines if available. Referral guidelines have been developed by some specialities and outline triage categories as well as essential clinical information to allow for safe clinical triaging in a safe and consistent manner. The referring doctor may be asked to provide additional clinical information to assist with the triaging process if essential clinical information needs to be clarified.

Contact is usually made back via letter to the referring doctor and the patient after the referral has been triaged. A letter is usually posted to the patient 3 weeks before the appointment date to confirm appointment details.

Status of referrals

The status of each referral can be checked by calling the relevant clinic. A report outlining waiting times per specialty is available in the Specialist Outpatient Waiting Times Report which provides an indication of usual wait times (scroll down for latest report).

Clinical guidance

Additional clinical guidance with suggested GP management and referral pathways can be found at HealthPathways SA or through additional clinical support options. This may assist while the referral is being triaged and/or the patient is waiting to be seen. Further information can be found on the Outpatient Referral Process page.