Community Services Statistics, September 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 1,731,420 referral requests in total during September 2024. Of these, 320,565 referrals were for children and young people, 504,370 referrals were for adults aged 19 to 64, and 905,660 were for adults aged 65 and over.

Across all submitters of referral data in September 2024, there were 1,239,865 patients with a referral received during the month, of which 284,130 were children and young people, 415,805 were adults aged 19 to 64, and 539,200 were adults aged 65 and over.

Referral reason is submitted in 67.3% 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, Healthy Child Pathway & Haematology/Phlebotomy.

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