The Western Health Orthopaedic Unit accepts GP and specialist referrals for adult and paediatric orthopaedic conditions across our Footscray and Joan Kirner Hospitals.
Urgent referrals
If your referral is urgent, do not fax and wait. Call the Western Health switchboard on (03) 8345 6666 and ask for the orthopaedic registrar or send the patient to the Emergency Department.
For a suspected fracture, septic joint, cauda equina or other acute presentation, send the patient to an Emergency Department.
Routine referrals
- Check your referral meets the Western Health Orthopaedic Surgery Access and Referral Guidelines and the Statewide Referral Criteria.
- Adult – Email to adultoutpatientreferral@wh.org.au to Adult Specialist Clinics
Paediatrics – wandcclinics@wh.org.au
Referrals generated from your own practice software are accepted provided they contain everything needed for triage.
What to include in an orthopaedic referral
Referrals that do not meet minimum requirements are rejected, and incomplete referrals are returned for more information, which delays the patient. Beyond the standard demographic and referrer details, please include:
- Your assessment of clinical urgency – urgent or routine
- The presenting problem or working diagnosis, and whether the patient has been seen before for the same problem
- Current and previous treatment, and the response to it
- A complete current medication list, allergies and previous adverse events
- Relevant medical history, including functional or cognitive impairment
- Functional impact – on work, study, caring responsibilities and daily life
- Whether an interpreter, carer or transport support is needed
- Confirmation the patient has agreed to the referral and to information sharing
What happens next
Referrals are checked administratively, then clinically, then triaged by a clinician as urgent or routine. Within eight working days you will be notified in writing that the referral has been accepted with an appointment scheduled, accepted with the patient waitlisted, or not accepted with the reason given.
If a referral looks likely to be urgent but is incomplete, a clinician will phone you for the missing information rather than return it.
After a patient is discharged from clinic, written clinical handover is sent to you within five working days. Patients are notified separately by SMS.
Our clinics
The unit runs general Orthopaedics and Fracture clinics. Patients are told their clinic location once an appointment is allocated.
Useful links
- Western Health orthopaedics service page
- Orthopaedic Surgery Specialist Clinic Access and Referral Guidelines (PDF)
- How to refer, including downloadable referral templates
- Minimum referral information
- Children’s referrals
- OrthoAnswer – patient education resource
- Statewide Referral Criteria, adult joint pain (hip, knee, shoulder, back)
- Statewide Referral Criteria, children’s orthopaedic