Referrals to PCH

Patient referrals to PCH are accepted from the hospital, private consultants and general practitioners from across Western Australia.

When referring a patient to PCH, we ask that you follow our pre-referral guidelines and use WA Health's Referral Access Criteria and Clinician Assist WA for valuable referral guidelines.

Most of our referrals to the PCH Outpatient department are managed through the Central Referral Service. Please check the specialty’s specific requirements on their service page.

Have a question about a referral?

Contact the Hospital Liaison GP service for assistance in referring a patient to PCH.

Guidelines for referral

Pre-referral guidelines

When referring a patient to PCH, we ask that you follow our pre-referral guidelines.

View our list of departmental pre-referral guidelines.

HealthPathways WA

HealthPathways WA is a web-based portal with information on referral and management pathways to help clinicians access patient services in the primary, community and acute health care settings in WA. We recommend viewing these guidelines for useful advice on referring to PCH.

How to refer

Emergency admission to PCH

Please call the switchboard on 6456 2222 and ask to speak to the emergency consultant or doctor for all emergency admissions.

This service is available 24 hours, seven days a week.

Routine non-urgent referrals

Before referring to PCH, please ensure you have consulted with our pre-referral guidelines and the guidelines on HealthPathways WA.

Please check the specialty’s specific requirements on their service page. Find a service here.

Central Referral Service

All non-urgent referrals from a GP or a specialist consultant to the PCH Outpatient Department is via the Central Referral Service using the standardised referral or e-referral form.

You can secure message, fax or post referrals to the Central Referral Service:

Phone: 1300 551 142

Fax: 1300 365 056

Online: https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Central-Referral-Service-guide-for-referrers

New referrals will be assessed against the eligibility guidelines and prioritised according to medical need.

PCH Referral Office

The PCH Referral Office accepts referrals from:

Nurse Practitioners
other non-medical referrers
private hospitals (including those with a private-public partnership).

Each referral is to be faxed individually.

PCH switchboard: 6456 2222

PCH Referral Office fax: 6456 0097

PCH Referral Office email: pch.referrals@health.wa.gov.au

We also accept Emergency referrals from the Emergency Department (ED) for urgent admissions and patients requiring surgery or non-operative treatment within 48 hours.

Urgent (to be seen in less than seven days)

Please send any urgent referrals requiring an appointment within seven days to the PCH Referrals Office.

Urgent referrals must always be discussed with the PCH Consultant / Registrar on call before the referral is sent. The referral needs to include the name of the Consultant/ Registrar the referrer spoke to.

Reasons why your referral may not be accepted

There are several reasons why your referral to PCH may have not been accepted.

These might include:

Does not meet the age criteria
Not following the pre-referral guidelines
The referral is for a service that is not offered at Perth Children’s Hospital
Not enough clinical content has been provided
There is a service that is available closer to the patient’s home.

Accessing medical records

To obtain medical records, please fax PCH Medical Records on 6456 2400 and provide the following details:

patient first name, family name and middle name if possible
patient date of birth and, if known, Unit Record Number
signed consent of the patient's Next of Kin, unless the patient has been recently discharged to the care of the GP who is requesting the records.