Medication review / poly-pharmacy
Adult

Internal Medicine

Useful Management Information

Minimum Referral Criteria

Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days)
  • Suspected drug-induced syndromes (falls, confusion, bowel or bladder dysfunction, fatigue)
  • Suspected drug-drug or drug-disease interaction of clinical significance
  • Recent medication-related hospitalisation
  • Hyperpolypharmacy (≥10 regularly prescribed drugs) where guidance regarding medication management may be of benefit
Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days)
  • Chemical or drug toxicity of a chronic nature
  • Medications where potential for harm potentially outweigh potential benefits in older patients
  • Polypharmacy (≥5 regularly prescribed drugs) where guidance regarding medication management may be of benefit
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

  • Relevant medical history and co-morbidities
  • Full list of medications including over the counter medications and complementary medicines, and indications for each one, highlighting any specific drugs causing concern
  • Past history of drug allergies or adverse reactions or medication-related hospitalisations
  • History of attempts to wean or cease specific medications
  • Details of any home medications review undertaken by pharmacists
  • FBC
  • U&E
  • Creatinine
  • LFT

If a specific test result is unable to be obtained due to access, financial, religious, cultural or consent reasons a Clinical Override may be requested. This reason must be clearly articulated in the body of the referral.

Additional Referral Information

  • List of all other doctors (specialists, GPs) who prescribe drugs for the patient, and their contact details
  • Contact details for patient’s regular community pharmacist
Last updated 16 July 2021

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals

Secure Web Transfer

Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Internal Medicine (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 Yogesh Raje
Medical Director Internal Medicine

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.

Gold Coast Health - For Clinicians
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