Upper limb trauma conditions
Adult

Orthopaedics

Useful Management Information

  • Timing of first review appointments at orthopaedic outpatient’s/fracture clinic
    • if there is documentation indicating adequate alignment and satisfactory initial treatment of fracture – to be seen within 14 days of referral
    • all other fracture cases, delayed presentation of tendon and nerve injuries - to be seen within 7 days of referral
  • Do not delay referral for open, unstable fractures — refer to emergency or contact the orthopaedic registrar on-call.
  • Please refer early as treatment may change with a delayed referral
  • Chronic disease requires to be optimised while waiting for appointment or the patients may not proceed to surgery

Minimum Referral Criteria

Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days)
  • Undisplaced fracture
  • Fracture that has been reduced and immobilised satisfactorily
  • Delayed presentation nerve or tendon injury
  • Delayed presentation joint dislocation
Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days)
  • Fracture delayed or non-union
  • Mal-union affecting function
Category 3 (appointment within 365 calendar days)
  • Mal-union not affecting function
  • 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

  • History of – symptoms, date, time, mechanism, severity or evolution of injury
    Neurovascular examination (Cat 1 only)
  • Management to date (immobiliser, splint, cast etc.)
  • XR results

Additional Referral Information

  • No additional referral information
Last updated 14 February 2024

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals

Secure Web Transfer

Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Orthopaedics (E-Blueslips)
Orthopaedic Fracture - GCUH
Orthopaedic Fracture - Robina

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 Will Talbot
Medical Director Orthopaedics

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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