Outpatient referrals

The Royal Hospital for Children provides outpatient services in the children's hospital and in community clinics across Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Our tertiary services also offer specialist and shared care clinics across Scotland. For more details on these please see the specialty specific referral information.

Primary Care referrals are accepted for children within GGC and aged between 0 and their 16th birthday and should be made through SCI gateway. Please try to ensure you have selected the correct paediatric specialty, although we will forward referrals felt to be better suited to a different specialty.

Neonatal referrals cannot be forwarded from RHC vetting.

A valid referral needs:

Patient Demographic Information 

• full name
• CHI number
• address
• a current mobile phone number and/or landline number
• date of birth
• Interpreter requirements
• Any social vulnerability or child protection concerns

Clinical information

• reason for referral- presenting problem, GP diagnosis, referral purpose
• physical examination findings
• management to date
• investigation results
• relevant medical history
• allergies
• medications

For new dermatology appointments, or appointments where images may be helpful please either ask parents to, or email, 2 to 3 good quality photographs of the rash or mark that the child has been referred for to mim.requests@ggc.scot.nhs.uk including the child's name and CHI number.

Reasons why your referral may not be accepted

The main reasons why your referral to the RHC may not be accepted are:

1. not enough demographic information (a valid phone number is essential as many of our appointments are being carried out remotely)
2. not enough clinical information – we are unclear about the child’s medical condition or the reason for their referral
3. does not meet the age criteria – child is too young or too old for an appointment at a clinic (some services are offered by our neonatal colleagues) 
4. out of area – there are appropriate services closer to the child’s home
5. no relevant clinical service – the service the child needs is not provided by the RHC
6. originally seen elsewhere – the child was seen or treated by another hospital or health service and should be referred back to this service.