It is a contractual requirement for GP practices to use the e-Referral Service (e-RS) for all their practice to consultant-led outpatient clinic referrals. The service is now in use across the NHS in England and, when properly implemented, we believe the e-RS can provide secure and reliable benefits for referrers, providers and the wider NHS.

View the guidance on NHS Digital

It is for the practice to determine how they use e-RS and this could include the practice's administrative team doing this and not the GP.

Referral processes often vary between individual practices, so we have included examples of flexible implementation and day-to-day use throughout the guidance.

If you have any feedback or queries about this guidance or the e-RS more generally please get in touch via [email protected].