Transfer Immediate Option

The Transfer Immediately option allows you to complete a patient transfer in one step, bypassing the normal referral approval process. When checked, the patient is instantly moved to the target team and discharged from the source team, with no manual acceptance required.

Required Permissions:

• You must be a member of both the source team (where the patient currently is) and the target team (where you're transferring them to)
• You must have at least one team in common with the patient

Availability:

• Organisational Administrators can use this feature for any teams where they are members
• Team Owners can use it for teams they own
• Clinical Users can use it for teams they belong to

Accessing the Transfer Dialog

1. From the sidebar, click My Patients
2. Click on the patient row you want to transfer
3. In the patient detail view, click the kebab menu (⋮) in the top-right corner
4. Select Refer Patient to Team from the dropdown menu

The "Submit Referral request for patient [FIRSTNAME] [LASTNAME]" dialog appears.

Completing a Standard Referral (Default)

5. Select the source team from the From dropdown (if the patient is on multiple teams, otherwise this is read-only)
6. Select the destination team from the To dropdown
7. Optionally, enter a Reason for Referral (SBAR format is recommended)
8. Optionally, upload clinical documents using the Attachments field
9. Leave the Transfer Immediately? checkbox unchecked
10. Click the Refer button

Result: A referral request is sent to the target team. The target team will see it in their Referrals tab and can accept or reject it. The patient remains on the source team until the referral is accepted.

Completing an Immediate Transfer

5. Select the source team from the From dropdown (if applicable)
6. Select the destination team from the To dropdown
7. Optionally, enter a Reason for Referral
8. Optionally, upload attachments
9. Check the "Transfer Immediately?" checkbox ✅
   • The full label reads: "Transfer Immediately? (This will ACCEPT the referral request and DISCHARGE from sending team)"
10. Click the Refer button

Result: The patient is instantly transferred to the target team and discharged from the source team. A transfer note is automatically created in the patient's clinical notes. No manual acceptance is required by the target team.

What Happens Next

• The dialog closes automatically
• The patient list refreshes
• If you performed an immediate transfer, the patient now appears in the target team's patient list
• If you sent a standard referral, it appears in the target team's Referrals tab

You can only check "Transfer Immediately?" if you are a member of the target team. If you check the box but are not a member, you'll see this error message:

"You are not a member of this team. You can only transfer immediately to a team of which you are a member. Deselect 'Transfer Immediately' to send a referral request."

Other validation checks:

• The source and destination teams cannot be the same
• The patient cannot already have an outstanding referral to the target team
• The patient cannot already be cared for by the target team
• The reason for referral field has a maximum length of 500 characters

If validation fails, the error message appears below the To dropdown field with a red border around the invalid field.

When to Use "Transfer Immediately?":

• ✅ You are a member of both the source and target teams
• ✅ You need to transfer a patient urgently
• ✅ You have already co-ordinated with the receiving team
• ✅ You want to avoid the referral approval workflow

When to Use a Standard Referral:

• ❌ You are not a member of the target team
• ❌ The receiving team should review and approve the request first
• ❌ You want to send a referral for consideration rather than completing the transfer yourself

Best Practices:

• Always include a clear reason for referral, especially for immediate transfers, so the receiving team understands the clinical context
• Attach relevant clinical documents to provide the target team with necessary patient information
• Use SBAR format (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) when describing the reason for referral

Time-Saving Tip: If you regularly transfer patients between the same teams and you're a member of both, using the immediate transfer option can save significant time by eliminating the back-and-forth approval process.