In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queensland Government has introduced travel restrictions to limit people crossing the border into Queensland.
These restrictions include limitations on patients residing in New South Wales accessing health services in Queensland. There are temporary changes to the availability of certain health services, including non-urgent new and review appointments and the acceptance of category 2 and 3 outpatient referrals.
All patients from NSW with scheduled appointments will be reviewed for clinical urgency. Where possible, these appointments will be undertaken by telehealth, however some non-urgent appointments may need to be rescheduled or replaced by services in NSW.
In addition, new referrals that are triaged as category 2 or 3 will not be accepted on the wait list and will be returned to you. Patients will also be informed of this outcome of the referral.
Referrals in Queensland are categorised against clinical prioritisation criteria. To avoid delay to patient care, Gold Coast Health is urging practitioners to review the criteria before making referrals for patients from NSW during the current situation.