Managing referrals to non-admitted specialist services in Victorian public health services

The Managing referrals to non-admitted specialist services in Victorian public health services policy outlines the department's expectations regarding access to non-admitted specialist services. The target audience is Victorian public health services, particularly the executive and management teams of these services.

This policy replaces the 2013 publication Specialist clinics in Victorian public hospitals: access policy.

The policy applies to the non-admitted specialist services provided through all Victorian public health services (see section 3.1 Scope).

The term ‘Victorian public health service(s)’ refers to all public hospitals and denominational hospitals, public health services and multipurpose services established under the Health Services Act 1988. This includes when there are collaborative and shared service delivery models between these health services.

Due to their special legislative and policy requirements, clinical mental health services designated under the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act for Victoria are not subject to the obligations outlined in this policy. However, clinical mental health services should adopt policies and procedures consistent with this policy for effective communication with patients, their family and carers and referring clinicians and to ensure clear and consistent processes for managing referrals.

This policy does not describe reporting or performance monitoring requirements. The Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI) relies on obtaining timely, accurate and high-quality data from public health services, and public health services must ensure accurate and timely submission of data in accordance with

• Performance monitoring framework
• the department’s annual publication Policy and funding guidelines for health services
• Victorian Integrated Non-Admitted Health (VINAH) dataset