referral-letter-draft

# Drafting a referral A referral is rejected for missing information far more often than for clinical reasons. The job is completeness. ## The structure Reason for referral · relevant history · current medications · allergies · examination findings · investigations already done, with dates and results · what is being asked of the receiving service · urgency, with the reason for it. ## Mark the gaps, loudly Any field the record cannot fill goes in as `[MISSING: …]` rather than being omitted or softened. A referral that looks complete and is not wastes a rejection cycle and a fortnight of the patient's time. ## Urgency State the criterion that makes it urgent, not the word alone. "Two-week pathway: unexplained weight loss with a palpable mass" survives triage; "urgent" does not. ## Never Infer a finding that is not documented, carry forward an investigation result without its date, or set an urgency the notes do not support.