For referring Doctors

RPA supports the right of our patients to choose to be treated as either a private (Medicare bulk billed) or public (hospital-funded) patient. Where possible, patients who are able to provide a named referral (to any of our consultants) will be triaged to the most appropriate clinic, and can elect to be treated as a bulk billed patient to help our department provide services, equipment and research needed for us to offer the best possible care to as many patients as possible.

Please ensure that your referral includes enough detail for us to triage, such as site(s) and provisional diagnosis of any lesions of concern (we are unable to offer routine skin checks for patients who do not have specific lesions of concern). We are unable to offer cosmetic dermatology or general surgery for benign cysts, and our department is only able to see patients 16 years of age and older.

We prioritise appointments for your patients with urgent, severe and refractory skin conditions needing tertiary hospital outpatient review. We regret that we do not have appointment slots available for non urgent referrals which do not need hospital clinic review. These patients will need referral to a private dermatologist or skin clinic.

Upon receipt of a referral, we will arrange an appointment for your patient in the most appropriate clinic.

• e-referrals using HealthLink SmartForms (see HealthPathways Sydney website)
• Fax:  9515 6248 OR
• Email:slhd-rpadermatology@health.nsw.gov.au

It is helpful if you can include your patient's email address within the referral