Information for referrers
Contacting me
I am very happy to answer urgent questions from referrers during office hours. If the matter is not urgent, you may like to email your query and I will return your message when available.
Consultation and surgery availability and waitlist
We actively manage our appointment book to maintain a minimal wait time for consultations of between 1-3 weeks. If you require an urgent appointment for your patient, please call our office directly on 02 6102 1130. Urgent, same day appointments can be made if required.
I currently perform surgery at 3 locations Calvary Hospital in Bruce, Canberra Microsurgery in Woden and Barton Private Hospital. Patients may request for their operations at any of these locations. Often the choice of hospital will be determined by how soon the surgery is required (either a medical urgency or a preference for timing by the patient), the type of surgery required and the equipment at the particular hospital and the hospital with the first available theatre list. I can advise your patients about availability at the various locations and they will be provided with guidance on approximate hospital costs.
Referrals
For patients requiring an urgent appointment, please either fax or call the office directly.
When referring a patient, please ask the patient to make the booking with us (some patients expect us to call them to make an appointment).
Please ensure you include your provider number and address of your office, particularly if there are multiple locations for your office. We require your correct details so we may keep you advised with follow-up letters after our examination or treatment of your patient.
Referral form & printable location map
When making a referral, we accept referral letters or our referral form. For your convenience, a downloadable copy of the referral form is available on this page. If you prefer, we can send you a printed referral form pad, please call or email our office to enquire.
The second page of the referral form includes a map of our location and parking which may be handy to give to patients to help find us.
Common eye presentations and questions from patients or referrers
Cataracts – “Do I need to have cataract surgery?”
Generally, cataracts are not a medically urgent condition and as a rule, they do not require immediate surgical removal unless the cataract is causing problems with vision such as persistent blur or glare. It may be prudent to refer the patient for an examination by an ophthalmologist to rule out any other condition that may be responsible for the presenting visual complaint.
Entropions (eyelid rolling into the eye) – “Do I have to have an operation to fix this?”
It is important that the cornea of patients with entropions is assessed for abrasions or ulceration. Generally most if not all entropions need to be corrected. Left untreated, repeated irritation of the eye by the offending eyelashes may result in corneal ulceration leading to scarring or infection and potential loss of sight.
Lid lumps and bumps – “Should I perform a biopsy prior to referring a patient?”
Lumps and bumps on the lids are common lid conditions and can sometimes be difficult to diagnose correctly. They may be nothing more than a “wart”, stye, chalazion or a granuloma or they may represent a neoplastic process. Although I do not discourage biopsing a lid lesion prior to a patient coming in for assessment, my preference is to assess untouched lesions for diagnostic accuracy. At times, making a diagnosis after a biopsy may be difficult as the characteristic of the lesion may have changed or a lesion may have ‘disappeared’ after a biopsy.