In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queensland Government has introduced travel restrictions to limit the number of people crossing the border into Queensland.

These restrictions mean that there could be some changes to outpatient clinic appointments for patients residing in New South Wales (NSW) or other declared COVID-19 hotspots. All patients from NSW with scheduled appointments will be reviewed for clinical urgency to assess whether they need to attend the clinic in person or whether they can be offered a telehealth or telephone appointment. Some non-urgent appointments may need to be rescheduled to a later date or replaced by services identified in NSW.

In addition, new referrals that are triaged as Category 2 or 3 will not be accepted on the wait list and will be returned to you. Patients will also be informed of this outcome of the referral.

Referrals in Queensland are categorised against Clinical Prioritisation Criteria  (CPC). We would urge you to review CPC before making any referrals for patients from NSW during this current situation to avoid delay to patient care.

There is currently no change to appointments or acceptance of referrals for patients residing in Queensland.