Dietetics (Program)
Community

Available through
Face to Face
Telehealth
Telephone
Adult

Useful Management Information

  • Community Dietetics is a short-term dietetic service.
  • Patients may alternatively be eligible for a Dietitian through Team Care Arrangements or an Eating Disorder Management Plan.
  • Patients are encouraged to utilise their Team Care Arrangements or Eating Disorder Management Plans prior to being referred.
  • Patients with an NDIS plan may be able to access a dietitian using their core supports funding.
  • Patients with a gastrostomy or jejunostomy should be referred to the Gastrostomy Dietitian service.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Patients who have not exhausted their Team Care Arrangement (TCA)
  • Patients aged < 18 years
  • Patients located outside the Gold Coast Health Service district
  • Patients residing in a residential aged care facility (RACF)
  • Patients accessing NDIS, where dietetics is included
  • Patients accessing a Level 3 or 4 Home Care Package through My Aged Care
  • Referrals for ongoing care for a chronic condition requiring dietary support for greater than 3 months
  • WorkCover patients and DVA Gold Card holders
  • Patients with a gastrostomy or gastrojejunostomy

Urgent Referrals

  • Urgent dietetic referrals are triaged as a Category 2 for community dietetics services.

Are you referring to the right service?

  • Cancer
  • Chronic Liver Disease
  • Gout
  • Hypercholesterolaemia
  • Diabetes - Type 1
  • Diabetes - Type 2
  • Heart Failure
  • Chronic Kidney Disease – please specify stage
  • Respiratory Disease – please specify type
  • GORD
  • Antenatal – Hyperemesis
  • Antenatal – High risk
  • Osteoporosis
  • Diverticular Disease
  • Constipation
  • Post Bowel Surgery – Ileostomy
  • Post Bowel Surgery – Colostomy
  • Post Bowel Surgery – Resection
  • Post Bowel Surgery - Other
  • Bowel Obstruction
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Post Fundoplication Surgery
  • Malnutrition – Mild
  • Malnutrition – Moderate
    Malnutrition – Severe
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  • Coeliac Disease
  • Eating Disorder – Anorexia Nervosa
  • Eating Disorder – Bulimia Nervosa
  • Eating Disorder – Binge Eating Disorder
  • Eating Disorder – EDNOS
  • Eating Disorder - ARFID
  • Enteral feeding – Nasogastric/Nasojejunal
  • Obesity – Pre Bariatric Surgery
  • Obesity – Post Bariatric Surgery
  • Obesity – Pre surgery weight reduction
  • Obesity – Weight reduction
  • Autoimmune Conditions

Minimum Referral Criteria

Category 2
(Appointment within 3-5 working days)

  • Antenatal – hyperemesis or high risk
  • Enteral feeding – nasogastric or nasojejunal
  • Malnutrition – severe
  • Post bariatric surgery
  • Post bowel surgery – resection or ileostomy
  • Post bowel / gastroenterological surgery

Category 3
(Appointment within 6-14 working days)

  • Bowel obstruction
  • Chronic kidney disease – specify stage
  • Chronic liver disease
  • Diabetes – type 1 or type 2
  • Eating disorders:
    • Anorexia nervosa
    • Bulimia nervosa
    • Binge eating disorder
    • Eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS)
    • Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Malnutrition – moderate (including from cancer or respiratory illness)
  • Post fundoplication surgery

Category 4
(Appointment within 15-28 working days)

  • Autoimmune conditions
  • Coeliac disease
  • Diverticular disease
  • GORD
  • Gout
  • Hypercholesterolaemia
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Malnutrition – mild
  • Obesity – pre-surgery weight reduction
  • Obesity – weight reduction
  • Osteoporosis

If your patient does not meet the minimum referral criteria

  • Assessment and management information may be found on a range of conditions at HealthPathways
  • 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

Out of Scope Services

The following conditions are out of scope for this service:

  • Gastrostomy management
  • Pediatrics (<18 years)]

Essential Referral Information

  • Patient has consented to Referral
  • Reason for referral
  • Anthropometry (weight, height, BMI and recent weight changes)
  • Medical history
  • Social History
  • Medication history
  • Any recent pathology
  • List of allergies
  • List of other providers currently providing care

Additional Referral Information

  • If referring for pre-surgery weight reduction, please specify amount of weight required to be lost and date or proposed date of surgery

Out of Catchment

Gold Coast Health is responsible for providing public health services to the people who reside within its boundaries. Special consideration is made for patients requiring tertiary services or for services that are not provided by their local hospital and health service district. If your patient lives outside the Gold Coast Health catchment area and you wish to refer them to one of our services, please indicate relevant medical or social information that will assist with the processing of your referral.

Notes

Please note that where appropriate and where available, the referral may be streamed to an associated public allied health and/or nursing service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated allied health and/or nursing, which may either facilitate or negate the need to see the public medical specialist.

  • A change in patient circumstance (such as condition deteriorating or becoming pregnant) may affect the urgency categorisation and should be communicated as soon as possible.
  • Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.
  • If your patient consents to telehealth, please indicate in the body of the referral.

Patient Must Bring

  • Medicare Card
  • Current medication list
  • Relevant X-rays, scans and reports
  • Reading glasses
Last updated 18 January 2024

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals

Secure Web Transfer

Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Not Available

Fax

(07) 5687 4497

Post

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

Enquiries

1300 559 083

Service Availability

Facilities

Helensvale Community Health Centre
Robina Health Precinct

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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