Transferring hospital while admitted or with surgery already scheduled
To transfer hospital during an admission, the first step is to tell your current treating doctor — the new hospital generally needs a doctor willing to accept you before a transfer is arranged; family can raise it with the ward or the treating doctor. If surgery is already scheduled and you then transfer, the new hospital may need to re-assess and re-schedule, which is for the receiving hospital to decide. Confirm whether the referral reached them, and it is safest to bring a copy yourself.
Who do I tell first?
During an admission, your current treating doctor coordinates your care; to transfer, that is the first person to tell, or family can raise it with the ward staff or treating doctor. A transfer generally needs a doctor at the new hospital willing to accept you before it can be arranged, so also ask who will take over there.
A private hospital must have a written policy on transfer, discharge and patient conveyance (Department of Health, Code of Practice for Private Hospitals, July 2026); each hospital's actual arrangement differs, so ask both the hospital you are in and the one you want to move to.
If surgery is already scheduled, is it re-queued?
If you transfer after surgery is scheduled, the new hospital usually has its own doctor re-assess your situation, and scheduling may be re-counted under the new hospital's arrangement; whether and how long is decided by the receiving hospital and treating doctor. Before transferring, you can ask the new hospital what the re-assessment involves, roughly when a slot is available, and what happens to the slot already booked.
How do I confirm the referral reached the new hospital?
If the new hospital says it has not received the referral, confirm with the original hospital when and by what means it was sent, and check with the new hospital whether it arrived. Safest is to bring a copy yourself — how to obtain and hand over reports, images and records is in how to get your own medical records and images and bringing previous tests to a new doctor.
Registering for eHealth and giving sharing consent to the institution of the new doctor lets its staff view records within the sharable scope when needed (see registering for eHealth); but eHealth may not cover every record and does not replace bringing your own copy.
Private-to-private, or changing public cluster after moving home?
Moving from one private hospital to another likewise generally needs a doctor at the new hospital to accept you; you can line up the doctor who will take over first, then have them and the hospital arrange it.
If you want to change public cluster because you moved home, ask your current or intended cluster whether a transfer is possible and whether re-queuing is required; public specialist and general outpatient booking is in how to book a public specialist clinic. What to prepare when transferring between public and private is in transferring between public and private care.
For how the ambulance or non-emergency transport on transfer day is arranged and charged, see arranging a non-emergency ambulance.
Frequently asked questions
The patient is admitted and the family wants to transfer — who do we tell?
Raise it with the current treating doctor or the ward staff; a transfer generally needs a doctor at the new hospital willing to accept the patient before conveyance is arranged (Department of Health, Code of Practice for Private Hospitals, July 2026). Ask the hospital you are in and the new hospital for the actual arrangement.
The other hospital says it has not received the referral — how do we confirm?
Confirm with the original hospital when and how it was sent, and check with the new hospital whether it arrived; you can also bring a copy of the reports, images and records yourself — how to obtain them is in the related guides.