This ES is designed to foster greater working relationships between secondary and primary care, whereby a GP can seek pre-referral advice from a specialist. This may result in a referral not being required, however, where it is still required, it will ensure referrals are appropriately targeted and good quality.
- Runs from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
- A request is per patient; only one claim can be made per episode of care
- Must be GP led
- Where it is not GP led, the process must be reviewed/approved by the GP
- Practice’s must create a protocol for appropriate use of the service
- Patient’s must be informed the GP is seeking pre-referral advice which may or may not result in a referral but the practice will keep the patient fully informed
ICB’s have a ‘pot of money’ for this service, therefore, there may be local restrictions put in place. The ICB will be responsible for monitoring the quality of the service. They will invite practices to participate.
Practice’s need to have a good, robust policy for coding the advice and guidance and also to follow-up requests for patients.
