Atrial fibrillation/flutter
Adult

Cardiology

Useful Management Information

  • Refer to HealthPathways for assessment and management information or local guidelines if available
  • Not all patients with an incidental finding of asymptomatic/rate controlled AF have to be seen by a cardiologist if the general practitioner is comfortable caring for the patient.
  • In patients with new onset atrial arrhythmias (<48 hours), consider a fast track approach via telephone contact with the nearest cardiology service for consideration of earlier cardioversion to minimize the burden of atrial arrhythmia.
  • Atrial fibrillation may impact on a patient’s medical fitness to drive. The Queensland Government’s Transport and Motoring website and Austroads - Assessing Fitness to Drive website has advice about managing driving

Minimum Referral Criteria

Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days)
  • New symptomatic atrial fibrillation/flutter without any of the following concerning features
    • Haemodynamic instability
    • Shortness of breath
    • Chest pain
    • Syncope/pre syncope/dizziness
    • Evidence of pre-excited QRS (delta waves)
    • Neurological deficit indicative of TIA/stroke
    • Recurrent paroxysmal atrial fibrillation / flutter
    • Atrial fibrillation with signs of heart failure or reduced LV function that does not require presentation to emergency
Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days)
  • Chronic atrial fibrillation requiring management review (e.g., rate control, anticoagulation)
Category 3 (appointment within 365 calendar days)
  • No category 3 criteria
  • If the patient does not meet the criteria for referral but the referring practitioner believes the patient requires specialist review, a clinical override may be requested:
    • Please explain why (e.g. warning signs or symptoms, clinical modifiers, uncertain about diagnosis, etc.)
  • Please note that your referral may not be accepted or may be redirected to another service.

Essential Referral Information

  • FBC, ELFTs, TSH results
  • Include available ECGs, in particular those demonstrating the arrhythmia

Additional Referral Information

  • Details of relevant signs and symptoms
  • Details of all treatments offered and efficacy
  • Past medical history and comorbidities
  • Family history of cardiac disease or sudden cardiac death
  • Any investigations relevant to any co-morbidities
  • Other investigations (if available) e.g. echocardiogram report, CXR report, Holter monitor report, sleep study report
  • History of smoking, alcohol intake and drug use (including recreational drugs)
  • Coagulation studies, fasting lipid, magnesium results
  • CHADS2 VASC score
Last updated 17 September 2023

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals

Secure Web Transfer

Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Cardiology (E-Blueslips)

Fax

(07) 5687 4497

Post

Booking and Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215

Enquiries

1300 559 083

Related HealthPathways

No directly related pathways found

Service Availability

Dr Rohan Jayansinghe
Medical Director Cardiology

Facilities

Gold Coast University Hospital
Robina Hospital

If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.

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