Referral letters and reports

 

 

The Veterinary Practitioners Code of Professional Conduct (Code) requires that a veterinarian who has previously treated an animal must, when requested to do so, and with the consent of the person responsible for the care of the animal, provide copies or originals of all relevant case history records directly to another veterinarian who has taken over the treatment of the animal (cl 10).

With the client’s consent, relevant records must therefore be sent by the referring veterinarian to the veterinarian providing a second opinion (referral letter) and similarly from the second opinion veterinarian to the referring veterinarian if the latter is to resume taking over the care of the animal (referral report).

For ease of understanding and professional courtesy, the Board recommends that required relevant case records be accompanied by a referral letter and referral report. 

Ideally, this letter and report should be one or two A4 pages and include the following (example included):

Clear, concise information will assist the second opinion (and on return the referring veterinarian) to assimilate pertinent information for continuing the care of the patient and with communicating with the client.

 

 

This news article was published on 22 March 2019.