A practical approach to outpatient triage

Outpatient triage is an expectation on the Consultant team and is often not a training opportunity that arises frequently to the doctor in training. Understanding the process of triage from the point of referral to the appointment being offered can help ensure that the process is effective. To provide the best patient journey, that is both safe and timely is important and triage is crucial to ensuring this occurs. Understanding your directory of services, the triage process and systems used and looking at how primary care-secondary care services work together is vital to being able to effectively triage.