Tallaght Hospital faces into an e-referral future

By Mary Dennehy

THE completion of phase one of the HSE National e-Referral Programme was announced in Tallaght Hospital this week, with GPs now able to electronically refer patients into every acute hospital in the country.

GPs right across the country can now submit a referral electronically, directly from their practice management system, to a hospital using the HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) approved referral form and immediately receive an acknowledgement confirming receipt.

The system also enables the hospital to send a response message to the GP once the patient has been triaged.

According to figures, more than 10,550 e-referrals were received in hospitals in May compared to 2,289 received in August 2015, when the new process was initiated.

However, now that phase one of the programme has been completed, the number of electronic GP referrals is expected to increase.