Referral to emergency

If any of the following are present or suspected, please refer the patient to the emergency department (via ambulance if necessary) or seek emergent medical advice if in a remote region.

  • nil

For clinical advice, please telephone the relevant specialty service.

Central Adelaide Local Health Network

Northern Adelaide Local Health Network

  • GP Plus Elizabeth Pulmonary Rehabilitation Coordinator: 0481 461 386
  • GP Plus Modbury Pulmonary Rehabilitation Coordinator: 0481 461 386
  • Muna Paiendi Pulmonary Rehabilitation Coordinator: 0481 461 386

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network

Exclusions

  • respiratory diagnosis not confirmed
  • severe cognitive impairment or unstable psychiatric illness
  • unstable cardiac disease
  • uncontrolled hypertension
  • acute unstable respiratory illness
  • relevant infectious organism
  • musculoskeletal or neurological conditions that prevent exercise
  • unable to meet attendance requirements

Triage categories

Category 1 (appointment clinically indicated within 30 days)

  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) after recent exacerbation and/or recent respiratory admission
  • post-lobectomy/pneumonectomy
  • people undergoing assessment and/or awaiting lung transplantation

Category 2 (appointment clinically indicated within 90 days)

  • stable COPD and/or other respiratory conditions

Category 3 (appointment clinically indicated within 365 days)

  • attended Pulmonary Rehabilitation in the last 18 months
  • category 2 patients with a history of failing to attend

Essential referral information

Completion required before first appointment to ensure patients are ready for care. Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.

  • respiratory medications
  • home oxygen requirements
  • copy of detailed pulmonary function tests (PFTs)
  • copy of relevant blood results
  • copy of other tests performed: arterial blood gas (ABG), six-minute walk test (6MWT), chest x- ray (CXR), computed tomography (CT), electrocardiogram (ECG)/echocardiogram

Additional information to assist triage categorisation

  • relevant allied health/diagnostic/imaging reports, including location of company and accession number
  • copy of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) action plan

Clinical management advice

For pulmonary rehab to be optimally effective, optimization of patients’ medical condition prior is essential. Please ensure that any comorbidities are as best possible controlled and consider completing a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) action plan if appropriate.

Clinical resources

Consumer resources

Reason for request

  • to establish a diagnosis
  • for treatment or intervention
  • for advice and management
  • for specialist to take over management
  • for a specified test/investigation the General Practitioner cannot order
  • for other reason (e.g. rapidly accelerating disease progression)
  • transfer of care from another tertiary service
  • clinical judgement indicates a referral for specialist review is necessary.

Patient demographic details

  • full name, including aliases
  • date of birth
  • residential and postal address
  • telephone contact number/s – home, mobile and alternative
  • Medicare number, where eligible
  • name of the parent or caregiver, if appropriate
  • preferred language and interpreter requirements
  • identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Clinical modifiers

  • impact on employment
  • impact on education
  • impact on home
  • impact on activities of daily living
  • impact on ability to care for others
  • impact on personal frailty or safety
  • identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Other relevant information

  • Willingness to have surgery, where surgery is a likely intervention.
  • Choice to be treated as a public or private patient.
  • Compensable status, e.g. DVA, Work Cover, Motor Vehicle Insurance, etc.
  • Relevant social history, including identifying if you feel your patient is from a vulnerable population, under guardianship/out-of-home care arrangements and/or requires a third party to receive correspondence on their behalf.
  • Triage of a specialist outpatient referral is based on clinical decision making to allocate an appropriate urgency categorisation.
  • Where appropriate and where available, the referral may be streamed to an associated public allied health and/or nursing service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated public allied health and/or nursing, which may either facilitate or negate the need to see the public medical specialist.
  • A change in patient circumstance (such as condition deteriorating or pregnancy) may affect the urgency categorisation and should be communicated as soon as possible.
  • All new referrals will be triaged by a consultant and appointment times scheduled according to clinical urgency.