Cardiothoracic Surgery

Referrals

We accept GP and specialist referrals:

• Use the RMH referral form or a template from your own system
• Complete and fax your referral to Specialist Clinics (Outpatients) on (03) 9342 4234

We do not accept email referrals.

What to include in your referral

As outlined by the Department of Health, referral requests should include:

• Patient demographic information
• Referrer demographic information
• Reason for referral
• Presenting problem
• Service(s) requested
• Required referral information specified by statewide or local referral criteria
• Current patient management
• Impact of the problem on the patient
• Name of the consultant and provider number (for Medicare clinics)
• Investigation reports related to the referral

Urgent and after-hours support

Referrals are triaged based on priority. In an emergency, patients can go to the Emergency & Trauma Service at any time.

For advice, urgent referrals and out of hours support, call The RMH Switchboard on (03) 9342 7000 to page our registrar on call.

Clinical overview

The Cardiothoracic Surgery service at the RMH is a recognised world leader in patient care, innovation and patient safety. It is the largest service in Victoria and second largest in Australia, and has excellent results. A hospital mortality of 1.5% for all patients including emergencies with less than 1% for coronary bypass and heart valve operations.

We provide 24 hour emergency cover and availability with eight cardiothoracic surgeons and five registrars. We use three operating rooms, have up to 10 postoperative intensive care beds and a 20 bed ward.