Community Access

Community Access is a single point of contact within Northern Health that receives and processes referrals for many of the Community Based Services.

Community Access is the centralised point of access for Community Therapy Services and a number of other subacute programs at Northern Health. The service plays a vital role in ensuring patients access the right service at the right time and in the right place. The service receives referrals from both internal Northern Health programs and external services/individuals including GP’s/Medical Consultants, Community Providers and My Aged Care.

What to expect from the service?

We aim to notify the patient and referrer of the outcome of the referral within 8 working days of receipt of referral.
If the referral meets service criteria and therefore accepted we will try to offer an appointment in the first instance. If we cannot, we will add you to the waiting list.
We aim to make appointments for category 1 (urgent) referrals within 30 days, category 2 referrals will be booked in 6+ weeks. If you would like to discuss the waiting time for a specific service please contact us via phone 94953443.
If the referral has been declined the referrer will be notified of the reason.

Community Access is a single point of contact within Northern Health that receives and processes referrals for the following community-based services:

Community Therapy Service (CTS)
Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP)
Hospital Admission Risk Program (HARP) including Diabetes

Home and Community Care Program for Younger People (HACC PYP)
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Paediatric Allied Health Service

When making a referral please include the following information:

Patient’s full name
Patient’s Date of Birth
Patient’s address
Patient or nominated persons contact Phone number
Preferred mode of contact (Phone, Email, SMS or Letter)

Medicare Card number (if patient doesn’t have Medicare please document this on the referral)
Primary General Practitioner
Clinical reason for referral
Supporting clinical information including medical history and list of current medications (see specific service and clinic criteria for relevant information for each service)

Processing Referrals

We aim to make appointments:

Category 1 (urgent) referrals within 30 days
Category 2 referrals will be booked in 6+ weeks.

If you would like to discuss the waiting time for a specific service please contact us via phone (03) 9495 3443. If the referral has been declined the referrer will be notified of the reason.

How to refer:

Referrals to be faxed:

038405 8616

or use HealthPathways Melbourne:

HealthPathways Melbourne provides referring GPs with a comprehensive suite of clinical pathways, including guidance on when to refer and what information is required to accompany a referral.

melbourne.healthpathways.org.au