Focus on Proformas and Referral Forms in General Practice

There is no contractual or regulatory requirement for GPs to fill out proformas. Demands by Trusts that referral forms or proformas are completed prior to accepting a patient referral or transfer of care creates additional workload and bureaucracy for GPs, particularly when the information being requested does not pertain to medical information. The GMC’s Good Medical Practice requires GPs to refer when it is necessary to do so in the patient’s best interest, and when doing so to ensure a safe transfer of care. This requires any referral letter should include relevant information about the patient’s medical condition, background PMH, current medication and any allergies. Given the urgency of two week wait referrals, however, GPC England recommends GPs should take a pragmatic approach and continue to use 2WW referral forms so as not to risk any form of delay in transfer of care.

Further information regarding referrals and proformas is available in this BMA guide.

Referral Rejection Proforma – template

LMC cover letter for referrals