This report shows the 90th percentile time from the receipt of a referral from a GP or specialist outside the health service to the patient's first urgent appointment. Referrals are triaged upon receipt at the health service and are assigned a priority according to the clinical needs of the patient. It is recommended that routine patients receive an appointment within 30 days.
The 90th percentile is the time within which 90 per cent of the patients attended their first appointment.
A 'first' appointment is defined as the first time a patient sees a specialist or clinician within a health service. A patient may see more than one specialist or clinician but the appointment only counts towards a 'first' appointment if the patient was referred for that specialty by their GP or a specialist from outside the health service.
If a patient fails to attend a booked appointment without notice, the booked appointment will count as the 'first' appointment.
Victorian Health Services Performance