Referral of patients for Other Specialities

1. All patients at NIMH are admitted under the relevant unit Consultant Psychiatrist and the Consultant

Psychiatrist of the Unit shall be considered as the primary Consultant

2. All referrals to other Consultants should be done in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of

Health and Sri Lanka Medical Council

3. All referral should be done by or with the expressed permission of the treating Consultant

Psychiatrist

4. Referral of patients to Consultant Physician of NIMH/ Consultant Anaesthetist of NIMH/ Consultant

Haematologist of NIMH/ Visiting Consultant Microbiologist from NIID/ Visiting Consultant

Dermatologist from NIID

a. Referrals done on working days from 8 am to 2 pm should signed by the Consultant Psychiatrist/

Unit Senior Registrar/ On Call Senior Registrar b. Medical Officers may refer to Medical Officer of the relevant speciality after 2 pm or on off days where opinion in urgent (However they need to take consent from Unit Consultant/ Senior

Registrar or On Call Senior Registrar before referring) c. In life threatening emergencies opinion can be sort over the phone and medical unit Medical

Officers as well as Medical Officers - Anaesthesia may be informed to attend urgently d. Section C Medical Officers may contact the above Consultants and their teams directly considering the practical issues that arise in managing the Half Way Home at Mulleriyawa.

5. Patients that require other specialist opinion should be referred to Consultants at Colombo East Base

Hospital, Mulleriyawa, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Angoda or National Hospital of Sri

Lanka based on the requirement

6. Referrals to other hospitals should be done on cost benefit basis as these referrals need provision of transport and accompaniment of multiple staff

7. Referrals to Consultant Judicial Medical Officer should be done by the Attending Consultant

Psychiatrist considering the medico - legal issues that arise through that referral. It is good practice to keep Consultant JMO informed over the phone about the referral immediately when the referral is made. If need be the Police must be informed to issue a MLEF (Medico Legal Examination Form) as per SLMC guidelines.

8. Referrals to the Medical Nutrition Unit and Dental Clinic can be done by any Medical Officer.