TranslateAged Care (including Parkinson's Clinics and Specialist Outreach Clinic)
Outpatients
Information about outpatient clinics for the assessment and management of ageing-related conditions.
The Department will periodically contact patients waiting for an outpatient clinic appointment via SMS, with a link to an electronic form. This is part of routine waitlist auditing to ensure patient details are up to date. If you receive this SMS, please update your details.
Availability
North
Level 3
Launceston General Hospital
Phone: 1300 977 694
Fax: 03 6777 5227
North West
North West Regional Hospital
Phone: 03 6493 6300
Fax: 03 6464 1928
Mersey Community Hospital
Phone: 03 6166 7893
Fax: 03 6222 8476
South
Lower Statton Building
Repatriation Centre
90 Davey Street
Hobart TAS 7000
Phone: 03 6166 7763
Fax: 03 6173 0325
Emergency conditions
There are no emergency criteria. If you feel the patient needs to be seen urgently (within the week) it is suggested you telephone the on-call Geriatrician (via RHH switch) to discuss prior to referral. If the patient is known to the service please contact the consultant involved.
Emergency care
If you, or someone else, are experiencing a serious and life-threatening injury or illness call triple zero (000) immediately or go to the nearest Emergency Department.
Learn more about when to access emergency care and non-emergency care options if the injury or illness is not serious or life-threatening.
Scope
Aged Care provide two main types of clinic:
- General Geriatrics for people with falls, cognitive disorders, frailty, complex chronic conditions of old age and geriatric oncology assessments.
- Movement Disorder Clinics for people with Parkinson's Disease and other movement disorders.
For psychogeriatric conditions please consider referral to Older Persons Mental Health Service via the Mental Health Helpline Referral Service
In the NW Dr Krishna will also see patients with psychogeriatric issues or Dr Sharma.
Referral process
Requirements
A referral is required for all new appointments and must conform to the Referral Standards as outlined on the outpatient information for clinicians page. eReferral is now the preferred method of referral for this service and is available in All regions. Please refer via HealthLink SmartForm eReferral through your software system (either Best Practice, or Medical Director). For instructions, see the creating an eReferral quick guide.
Specifically include:
- Relevant letters from consultants that the patient may have seen in private
- Correspondence detailing the problems
- Current medication list
- Allergies
- Past medical history
Please forward relevant private investigation results and ask patients to bring current medication list and any current radiological imaging performed to their appointment (e.g. MRI, CT etc.)
If referring to assess possible dementia, it is essential that the patient is accompanied by a friend or family member to provide the necessary collaborative history.
Please indicate if an interpreter is required and for which language. We will arrange this when booking the appointment.
Process
Referrals need sufficient information to allow triage and act as a clinical handover and must conform to the standard - see specific clinic advice.
Referrals are registered by the clinic to which they are referred and are triaged according to the specific clinic guidelines.
Where available, eReferral via HealthLink smart forms is now the preferred and only secure method of referral to the Tasmanian Department of Health.
Clinic appointments
Appointments are based on clinical priority.
Urgent (Category 1)
We will endeavour to see these patients within 4 weeks. Urgent referrals should be accompanied by a telephone call to the Consultant/Registrar or Clinic Nurse to organise urgent review.
Semi-urgent (Category 2)
We will endeavour to see these patients within 12 weeks.
Routine (Category 3)
Next available appointment.
Additional information
The ISLAND Clinic is a bulk billed diagnostic interdisciplinary clinic that will be associated with research and available to all Tasmanians with suspected cognitive impairment. The clinic has been developed by the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre. Learn more about the ISLAND Clinic.
