Community Services Statistics, May 2024

A service referral is a request for a care service to be provided for a person needing care. This could include patient self-referrals for an appointment to see or to be in contact with a care professional. 

Across all submitters of referrals data, there were 1,733,880 referral requests in total during May 2024. Of these, 291,910 referrals were for children and young people, 493,710 referrals were for adults aged 19 to 64, and 947,340 were for adults aged 65 and over.

Across all submitters of referral data in May 2024, there were 1,198,145 patients with a referral received during the month, of which 250,040 were children and young people, 402,225 were adults aged 19 to 64, and 545,050 were adults aged 65 and over.

Referral reason is submitted in 61.9% of records. Where recorded (excluding 'Reason for referral not known' and 'Missing Value / Value Outside Parameters'), the top 3 reasons
for referral are Musculoskeletal Problems, Haematology/Phlebotomy & Wound Care.

More detailed information on referral reason, including breakdowns by age band and gender are available in the accompanying data file.