Community Cardiac Services Patient Referral Form

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This service is currently available to all practices in Bedfordshire and surrounding areas .
The service will see most NON URGENT  Cardiology patients.
The service is ONLY for patients aged 18 and over – under 18’s must be referred to appropriate Hospital Service.

The service does not see:

• Urgent Cardiology Patients.
• Patients with undiagnosed chest pain – these should be referred urgently to the Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic.
• Patients with NT-proBNP levels of more than 2000 pg/mL – these should be referred urgently to the Rapid Access Heart failure Clinic.

To Refer A Patient

Complete a referral form and enclose recent:

• ECG
• Relevant Blood Tests:
  • Full Blood Count
  • GP Screen
  • TFT
  • HbA1c
  • Lipids
  • NT-proBNP (only if suspected Heart Failure)

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After appropriate patient evaluations Community Cardiac Services  will inform you (The patients primary referrer) m of any necessary prescribing.
If a referral appears inappropriate, we will return it with suitable explanation. If the patient requires acute care, the referral will be sent to Bedford Hospital NHS Trust to  ensure no delay for the patient with feedback sent to the GP.
NB – We cannot accept referrals which are not on the referral form and do not have a recent ECG and relevant blood tests. This will delay patient triage and potentially affect waiting times for appointments.
Please let us know on the referral form of any special accessibility requirements, e.g. language spoken and if they will be able to bring own interpreter, signing requirements etc.

Following Referral

GPs are sent letters clearly stating final diagnosis, management plan and onward referral where necessary within five days of completion of investigations. In appropriate cases patients are given a two-week ‘open door’ to contact us directly without having to go through their GP if specified follow up or investigation is required. Case example is a patient referred with palpitations who, when seen has no symptoms but is given a further two weeks to have a monitor fitted for an appropriate length of time if their symptoms recur.