Can my general practitioner (GP) refer me to a different hospital?
Yes. A referral is a letter from your general practitioner (GP) to a specialist, and it can name a specialist at a different public hospital — including one in another state. Public hospital waiting lists are not closed to people who live somewhere else, and no rule ties you to the hospital nearest your home.
That matters, because the difference can be large. Median waits for the same surgery vary widely between hospitals an hour apart, and they vary between states: in 2024–25 the state medians for the same surgery differed by hundreds of days. Both numbers are on every surgery page here.
What a referral to another hospital actually involves
- The referral is to a specialist, not to the surgery. You join an outpatient clinic queue first. That queue is not in this data and can be long.
- The surgery waiting list starts after the specialist assesses you and places you on it with an urgency category.
- The hospital decides whether it accepts the referral. Some services prioritise their own area, particularly when they are under pressure.
- Care afterwards happens where you are. Follow-up appointments, physiotherapy and any complications are easier to manage close to home.
Crossing a state border
Medicare and public hospital treatment are available in every state and territory, so an interstate public hospital referral is possible. Practical things change: travel and accommodation are at your own cost, and pre-admission appointments may mean several trips. For people living near a border, the nearest hospital is often in the other state anyway.
Questions to take to your GP
- Can I be referred to a public hospital with a shorter waiting list, and would you recommend it in my case?
- How long is the wait to see the specialist there, before the surgery list starts?
- What would follow-up care look like if the surgery is done further away?
- Is there a clinical reason to stay with the hospital you first suggested?
Your GP and your treating specialist make this decision with you. This site only shows what the waiting times were.