Do you need a referral for a child health consultation?

A child health visit may review growth, development, feeding, sleep, behaviour, school concerns, long-term conditions, or a new symptom. Family medicine and paediatrics can both provide child health assessment. A clinician may then recommend monitoring, treatment, tests, vaccination review, or specialist input. A referral is useful when another service needs clinical background or when a specialist assessment has been requested.

Contact the chosen clinic and ask whether parents can book directly and what documents are needed. Bring the child’s health and vaccination records, a list of medicines, and notes about symptoms or developmental changes. Write down when a concern began and what makes it better or worse. If another clinician has already assessed your child, take that report or referral with you.

Seek urgent care for severe breathing trouble, unusual sleepiness, a seizure, signs of serious dehydration, a rapidly worsening condition, or a child who is difficult to wake. For infants, poor feeding with marked lethargy or breathing changes also warrants prompt assessment. Referral arrangements should not delay emergency care.

Ask which professional is best placed to assess the concern, whether a referral is needed, which records to bring, and what changes should prompt an earlier review.