Local people's views on the referral process from general practice to secondary care

Healthwatch Birmingham wanted to understand the referral process from GPs to hospitals.

This report is based on feedback from Birmingham residents collected between April 2023 and March 2024. There were 2376 pieces of feedback about general practice and 2937 about hospitals, covering 258 general practices and four hospital trusts.

The whole process of getting a GP appointment, including the triage system and poor interaction with the GP, combines to delay the referral process. This increases the time that the patient suffers from their symptoms or condition.

Getting a referral does not always guarantee that people will get the care they need, and there is a period of waiting between the referral from the GP and the referral appointment itself.  Long waits due to the challenges people face accessing referral appointments led to them to look for alternative options.

The challenges continue following a GP referral. Some people either do not hear back from the hospital, the referral appointment is cancelled, or the referral is not done properly or sent to the wrong department. This means a GP referral does not always guarantee access to the care someone needs.

The report contains a number of recommendations about improved referral processes, information for patients on the process and regular updates for patients during the referral process