e-RS guidance for routine and urgent referrals and advice requests

Advice and Refer (A&R) exception: For cardiology (heart failure), gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, pain management and rheumatology, you must select Advice in e-RS, even when requesting a referral. Please see our Advice and Refer (A&R) guidance for the correct process.

How to make a referral or request advice

1. Go to the Search for a Service section within e-RS.

2. If you are confident that the patient requires a referral, select Referral.

   If you are unsure whether a referral is required, or you would like clinical advice first, select Advice. You will then be asked:

   Do you authorise this request to be converted into a referral?

   Select either Yes or No, as appropriate.

3. Select either Routine or Urgent, then choose the relevant service from the list provided.

What happens next?

Referral and advice requests are managed in the same way. A consultant from the relevant clinical team will review the request and, where the patient meets the relevant clinical criteria, it will automatically be progressed as a referral.

The exception is where an Advice request has been submitted and No has been selected in response to the question:

Do you authorise this request to be converted into a referral?

If a referral is progressed, patients who have provided a UK mobile telephone number will receive a text message notification directly.

Alternatively, the consultant may respond with advice or follow-up questions and will explain the rationale for their decision.

We aim to respond to all requests within five working days.