All patients require a valid referral to be seen by the rheumatology service at RCH.
Referrals can be emailed to screferrals@rch.org.au or faxed (03) 9345 5034.
Telephone enquiries regarding referrals can be made on (03) 9345 6180 (Monday- Friday 8.30-5.00pm).
For referrers
Please ensure that sufficient clinical details are provided
and that all relevant investigation results are attached, as incomplete
referrals will not be accepted.
The following pre-referral guidelines have been designed by
our team to assist referrers to provide sufficient information at first
referral for accurate triage. Referrals not meeting minimum criteria according
to our referral guidelines will be returned the to the referrer.
Pre-referral guidelines
- Suspected
juvenile idiopathic arthritis (coming soon)
- Joint
hypermobility and non-inflammatory musculoskeletal pain (coming soon)
- Chilblains
and Raynaud’s phenomenon (coming soon)
- Autoimmune
connective tissue diseases and positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) (coming soon)
For patients and families
Referrals are triaged based on clinical urgency and there
may be a significant wait for non-urgent conditions. If you feel that your
child’s condition has changed and that a more urgent review is required, please
speak to your referring doctor who can submit an updated referral.
You can manage your child’s appointments from home by using
the My RCH portal; for more information visit
My RCH Portal. To cancel an appointment, reschedule an appointment, or to update patient details you can also use the
Specialist clinics change of appointment
form. Please provide as
much notice as possible when cancelling or rescheduling appointments so that
clinic places are not wasted.
Other rheumatology services
Care is best provided close to home. Please consider the
following options for accessing rheumatology care in Victoria and Tasmania:
Monash Children’s Hospital Paediatric Rheumatology Unit
Northern Health Paediatric Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic
Tasmania Outpatient Clinics
Private Paediatric Rheumatology Clinics