NHS e-Referral Service

NHS e-Referral System (e-RS) is the safe and easy way to refer your patient to one of our consultant-led services, including elective care and two week waits (2WW).

If you have any questions, comments, or suggests, drop our e-RS team a line.

Our paper switch-off plan

We now reject all routine referrals for consultant-led first appointments that are not made using e-RS.

Remember, please make one referral for each individual appointment. Duplicate referrals can cause problems with our patient tracking lists, resulting in wasted appointment slots.

Referral information for e-RS, e-RS 2WW, and excluded services[xlsx] 23KB

Defer to provider

If you can’t find a slot that’s directly bookable, simply click defer to provider. That means the referral comes straight to us, and just like a booking an appointment in the usual way, it’s findable, auditable, and secure.

Types of Services available on e-RS

We offer two types of service on e-RS:

Directly bookable services

For directly bookable services, you can make an appointment with your patient straight away – just click book now. All our referrals are triaged by one of our specialists, so whether your patient needs to be seen urgently or routinely, you can be sure that we’ll book an appropriate appointment based on their clinical need.

If you find that you can’t book an appointment on e-RS, use our defer to provider process, as above.

Referral assessment service (RAS)

If your patient needs one of our Referral Assessment Services (RAS), find the service on e-RS as normal and select send for triage.

We will triage the referral to select the best pathway for your patient, and will book an appropriate appointment with them.

e-RS troubleshooting and advice

If e-RS isn't working...

As part of our business continuity plan, we have arrangements in place if e-RS isn’t working.

We'll keep the following people and teams updated:

  • our IT helpdesk
  • operational managers in our access, outpatients and cancer management
  • the NWL CCG IT helpdesk
  • the national e-RS service desk
  • relevant Referral Management Centres

Where to find more information

There are lots of resources available for help on using e-RS, including NHS Digital’s e-RS pages. Your CCG will have their own guidance, too.

Guides