University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) offer the vast majority of outpatient services via the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS).

There are a range of request types for each of our services, please see the list below for a brief summary of how each of these request types are managed:

• Directly bookable – GP can refer directly into a service and attempt to book an appointment for the patient
• Indirect bookable – GP can refer directly into a service but the patient/GP must make contact with the hospital in order to book an appointment
• Referral assessment service – GP refers the patient into the appropriate service, the referral is reviewed and the Trust decide on the service the patient is to be booked onto
• Advice and guidance request – GP sends in an advice request and a clinical member of staff will review the request before supplying a response.

The e-RS allows patients greater choice over where they would like to be seen, the GP surgery will seek the most appropriate services and can offer the patient informed choice about where they would like to be seen by offering information such as possible (e.g. clinicians, waiting times etc.). Patients can then decide where they would like to be seen, for example if a particular hospital has no capacity for the patient to be seen, they may wish to select a provider who can see them within a shorter time frame.

Further information regarding the e-RS is available via the NHS website.

For any queries that relate specifically to the e-RS at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB), please contact the e-RS team using the following contact details.

Tel: 0121 371 7060
Email: uhb.erefferals@nhs.net