Referrals and wait lists
How the referral process works
Referral process steps
- We receive your referral
We receive your referral and add it to our system. - We send it to the right clinic
Your referral is sent to the specialist clinic that is best suited to your healthcare needs. - We assess your referral and determine the level of urgency
The specialist clinic reviews your referral and decides how urgently you need to be seen. Sometimes a referral may not be accepted. This can happen if the clinic is not the right service for your healthcare needs or if the referral does not meet the clinic’s referral guidelines. - If your referral is accepted
We will book an appointment for you. If the clinic has a very high demand and no appointments are currently available, we will add you to a wait list. - If your referral is not accepted
We will let you and your referring doctor know why the referral was not accepted.
Keeping you informed
We will send you and your referring doctor a letter to let you know whether your referral has been accepted. If we have your email address, this will be sent to you by email.
How we confirm your appointment
We book appointments based on how urgent they are and when we received the referral. We will contact you as soon as an appointment is available.
Please make sure we have your current phone number, email address and postal address so we can contact you.
If your appointment is in the next 4 weeks, we will contact you by phone or SMS text message with your appointment details. We will also send you a reminder text message 3 days before your appointment.
If your appointment is more than 4 weeks away, we will send you a letter with your appointment details.
If you need to change or cancel your appointment, please let us know as soon as possible. Read more about changing or cancelling your appointment.
How wait lists work
As Victoria’s largest public health service, Monash Health provides care to one-quarter of Melbourne’s population across seven major hospitals and many community health centres.
Many of our clinics are in high demand, with many people in our community needing specialist care. This means that when we receive a request for care, we often need to place patients on a wait list. Wait times vary by clinic depending on demand.
We know that long waits to receive care are a concern for many people in our community. This is an issue across Victoria and nationally. You can learn more about what we are doing to reduce wait times below.
Specialist appointment wait times
The wait time for a first appointment depends on which clinic you have been referred to, how urgent your care needs are, and how many patients are already waiting for an appointment. We try to provide an appointment within 30 days for urgent patients, and within 365 days for non-urgent patients. However, because there is very high demand for some services, this means it is not always possible.
Your options while waiting for an appointment
If you are concerned about the wait time for your appointment, you may consider talking to your GP or referring doctor about:
- getting specialist care through another public health service (wait times may be different through another health service)
- options for seeing a local specialist in their consulting rooms – usually, you will not need private health insurance for this, but there may be an out-of-pocket fee
- getting care at a private hospital or clinic, using private health insurance or direct payment, if this is an option for you
- local community allied health services that may be helpful.
Find out what to do if you are getting worse while you wait.
If your situation changes while you’re on the wait list
If you are on a Monash Health wait list, we will contact you regularly to make sure you still need your appointment and that your contact details are up to date. If your situation changes, let us know straight away. This could include:
- You no longer need care through Monash Health.
- You are getting care via a different pathway.
- Your name, address, email, or phone number changes.
What we are doing to reduce wait times
Improving access to care is a priority for Monash Health. We are working to improve how quickly we see patients who need care. Some of these initiatives are:
- Keeping our wait lists up to date
We regularly review our wait lists to make sure patients still need an appointment. For example, some patients may have received care elsewhere or no longer need specialist care. This helps us offer available appointments to patients who are waiting to be seen. - Improved processes for managing missed appointments
To help us manage missed appointments, if a patient misses an appointment, we no longer automatically book another one. If they still need care, they can contact us to make a new appointment. If they no longer need specialist care or do not contact us, we will discharge them from our clinic. - Providing information about waiting times
We provide information about expected waiting times for first appointments. This helps patients and referring doctors understand when care is likely to be provided and consider other options if needed. - Making sure urgent patients are seen sooner
Patients who need urgent care are prioritised and booked within the recommended timeframe wherever possible. - Providing follow-up appointments when they are needed
If a patient’s healthcare team decides a follow-up appointment is not needed straight away, we allow the patient to decide if they need another appointment and to tell us if their condition changes. This allows patients to guide the care we provide based on their needs, rather than providing just-in-case appointments. - Making it easier to manage appointments
We are improving the way our teams work together so we can provide better support when you need to make, change or manage your appointments.
About wait list audits
We regularly contact patients on our clinic wait lists to check that they still need an appointment. This is an important part of ensuring that wait lists are up to date so that patient care is not delayed.
Why we need to contact you while you are on a wait list
Your situation and details may change over time, which is why we will regularly contact you to check that you still need an appointment.
If you are waiting for a first appointment with more than one clinic, you will receive separate calls for each. You will need to respond to each communication you receive.
We do this to make sure that your personal details are correct, to check if you still require care and, if not, to remove you from the wait list if you no longer need care.
How do I give my answers for a wait list audit request?
You may receive a short online survey sent to you by text message to confirm that you still require care. The text message will be from ‘MONASHHLTH’.
It is important that you complete the survey within 28 days to ensure you maintain your place on the wait list for future care and our team can respond to any questions you have.
If you have received a letter, this means we did not receive a response to the survey sent by text message. Please contact us within the specified time to stay on the wait list or to request to be removed from the wait list.
What happens once I have responded to you?
If you respond ‘No’ to needing an appointment, we will remove you from the waitlist. Any future care will require a new referral from your GP.
If you respond ‘Yes’ to needing an appointment, you will remain on the waitlist, and we will contact you when an appointment becomes available.
What if I do not reply?
If you do not reply to our first contact with you, we will send you a text message reminding you to respond. If you still do not respond to our text message, we will try to reach you by letter and contact your GP.
If we do not hear from you or your GP, we will remove you from the waitlist. If you still need care but have been removed from the waitlist, you will need to talk to your GP to arrange a new referral.
How often do you audit the wait lists?
Audits are scheduled at varying times of the year for Monash Health’s 60 specialty units. They are open for a limited time.
Your text message or email contains information on how to contact us with any questions about the waitlist audit.