How to refer

We aim to make referring your patients to Homerton as easy as possible. Please use the e-Referrals Service (e-RS) to do this whenever it is available. 

e-RS is a simple and integrated booking service that covers the majority of Homerton services. This not only simplifies the process for yourselves, but it offers your patients a confirmed appointment at the time of referral and reduces the waiting times compared to other referral methods.

We are contractually obligated to only accept referrals via e-RS (except where an exclusion applies as per below), referrals not sent through eRS will be rejected back to the GP surgery and we will request the patient is re-referred via e-RS.

The practice will be sent an email, and this will be followed up with a telephone call in these instances. This includes Urgent Suspected Cancer services. 

If you need any help finding a service or have any queries/feedback on the system, please use the following contacts:

Tel: 020 8510 5261
Email: huh-tr.centralbookingsreferrals@nhs.net

Advice and Referral (A&R)

Advice and referral (A&R) is for GPs and other referrers only. Please refer to the  GP Handbook [pdf]   for guidance on how to make an A&R request and for answers to some FAQs.

Patients should use the contact details in their hospital appointment letter or information leaflet or call the Trust switchboard.

The following services are already live and using A&R:

  • Adult Allergy
  • Paediatric Allergy
  • Rheumatology
  • General Neurology

The following services are switching to A&R from April:

  • General Surgery (Go live on 1st April 2026)
  • Plastic Surgery (TBC)
  • Urology (TBC)
  • Oral Maxillo Facial Surgery (TBC)

Please see the service’s updated Directory of Service on eRS for inclusions and exclusions.

Please contact the appropriate clinical team regarding clinical or patient specific queries.

Frequently Asked A&R Questions

What is changing?

Instead of booking patients directly into outpatient clinics, referrals will be submitted as Advice & Refer requests. Each referral will be clinically reviewed by the specialty team, with one of the following outcomes:

  • advice returned to support ongoing management in primary care
  • referral accepted and booked into the correct clinic
  • referral redirected, with clear clinical advice provided.

Why this change is being made?

The Advice & Refer model supports:

  • national move to clinical triage of all referrals
  • reduced waiting times to first appointment
  • improved referral quality and fewer inappropriate bookings
  • better communication between primary and secondary care
  • patients being seen in the most appropriate service first time.

What do GPs need to do?

  • continue to refer via eRS
  • select the relevant Advice & Refer service
  • include sufficient clinical detail to support safe and timely triage:
    • presenting complaint and duration
    • examination findings
    • investigations completed
    • treatments tried and response
    • relevant past medical history.

Will this delay care?

No. Patients who need secondary care will be accepted and booked following triage.
Urgent and Urgent Suspected Cancer pathways are unchanged and should continue to be used as normal.

Where can I find more information? 

Updated Directory of Services (DoS) entries and for further guidance please see the

Non e-RS referrals

Non e-RS referrals

For certain specialised services that require your patient to be seen within 24 hours, e-Referrals is not available. These services are:

  • Termination of Pregnancy - call 03457 304 030 (including self-referral)
  • Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit - call 0208 510 7861, email huh-tr.epau.referrals@nhs.net, submit the EPAU referral form or fast track via A&E
  • Emergency Gynaecology Assessment Unit - via A&E
  • On the day Emergency Geriatric referrals or on Community Geriatric Assessment Referrals- Rapid access phone number: 07766 703 203
  • High Risk (24-hour turnaround) TIA referrals - via email huh-tr.tiaclinic@nhs.net (low risk to be referred via e-RS using ‘geriatric medicine’ specialty)
  • Emergency (24-hour turnaround) paediatric referrals - call 07795 390715 (9am-5pm)

National exclusions

  • Tertiary referrals 
  • Follow-up appointments 
  • Referrals from Dentists and Optometrists 
  • Referrals from Prison 
  • Referrals for Defence Medical Services patients based outside England 
  • Referrals from Private GPs 
  • Referrals from Out of Hour GPs or GPs based at Urgent Care Centres 
  • Same-day/A&E services  
  • Services which are accessed through self-referral/walk-in services. 
  • Termination of pregnancy 
  • Cross-border referrals from Wales and Scotland 
  • Patients who do not have an NHS Number 
  • Patients who have opted out from having their information transferred electronically