The following information is applicable to patients living in England, and being treated in England. No information provided should be taken as formal legal or medical advice.

What is self-referring?

For many NHS and private services, patients are able to self-refer. This means you can receive direct access to treatment, without the need to get a referral from your GP. This reduces procedural red tape, enables patients to be seen quicker, and reduces the strain on clinicians - particularly GPs.

How to self-refer?

Not all NHS services allow self-referrals, but many do. To self-refer for these services, you need to contact the service provider, who will then direct you as to how to self-refer for that particular service.

To find services eligible for self-referral, you can HealthSay’s search services, where you can filter for services which do not require a referral (this is currently limited to the London area). Alternatively, you can search and contact local providers in your area.

An example

Mary has knee pain and wishes to receive an ultrasound scan to diagnose the issue. Using HealthSay, Mary locates a local provider which allows self-referral and requests an appointment. The local provider gets in touch, and Mary manages to book a scan. Mary then receives the scan quickly, without having to go through the process of securing a referral from her local GP.