The Renal Medicine team are a large group of nephrologists working in a multidisciplinary team including Renal Nurse Practitioner, Vascular Access Nurse, Chronic Kidney Disease Nurse, Renal Transplant Nurse, Dialysis Nurses, Social Workers and Renal Dieticians. We look after more than 2000 patients across the Barwon and South-West regions.

Conditions seen

Barwon Health offers a Renal Medicine service for the following conditions:

  • Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 4 and 5 of any cause (eGFR <30mL/min)
  • Dialysis (Peritoneal and Haemodialysis)
  • Before and after kidney transplantation
  • Glomerulonephritis and other inflammatory renal conditions
  • Polycystic kidney disease and other inherited renal diseases
  • Renal supportive care
  • Severe persistent hypertension >180/110 or resistant hypertension >140/90 despite 3 or more antihypertensive agents, or suspected secondary hypertension (e.g. due to Chronic Kidney Disease or Renal Artery Stenosis)
  • Microscopic haematuria on 2 or more occasions with negative urine culture, negative cytology and no renal tract lesions on imaging
  • Acute kidney injury
  • Anaemia associated with kidney disease, when Hb is <100 and haematinic deficiency and haematological causes have been excluded

Conditions not seen

Barwon Health Renal Medicine does not accept referrals for the following conditions:

  • Urinary obstruction – should be referred as a matter of urgency to the Urology service.
  • Lower Urinary Tract symptoms
  • Solitary or complex renal cysts (the latter require Urology referral)
  • Patients with stable eGFR >30mL/min
  • Urine A:Cr <30mg/mmol, without haematuria
  • Renal calculi requiring Urological management
  • Iron deficiency anaemia
  • Patients under the age of 18, unless being transitioned from a paediatric renal service or after discussion with the renal consultant on-call.

How do I access this service

To be seen in the Renal Medicine clinic you need to be referred by your GP, another specialist doctor or your Barwon Health doctor.

We are unable to see you in our clinics without a referral.

Wait time

All requests for specialist clinic appointments are scheduled according to the patient’s clinical need. Clinicians assess whether an appointment is urgent or routine, based on information provided in the referral.

Barwon Health aims to see all ‘urgent’ referrals within 30 days. Our wait times for patients who are categorised as ‘routine’ are more variable, depending on the demand for our services.

The Victorian Agency for Health Information also publishes information about the waiting time for routine first appointments.

Routine first appointments | Victorian Agency for Health Information

Speciality
Projected wait time

No Wait times to show

For Health Professionals

State-referral criteria may apply for conditions under this specialty requiring further assessment and management. Referring clinicians are encouraged to utilise Western Victoria Community HealthPathways for referral guidelines and requirements for all conditions.

For urgent referral advice, please contact the specialty on-call registrar via Barwon Health switchboard on 03 4215 0000.

Complete the specialist clinics referral template and send via:

  • ReferralNet
  • Fax: 03 4215 3595

Additional referral advice:

  • Patients with rapidly declining eGFR (>15% over 3 months) and/or signs of nephritis (oliguria, haematuria, hypoalbuminemia, oedema or hypertension) may need admission and should be discussed with the Renal Registrar or Renal consultant On-Call without delay.
  • We DO want to see patients with renal disease who are young, indigenous or have a family history of renal disease.
  • We DO need at minimum, recent UEC (and UEC history), urine MCS, urine ACR and renal tract imaging.  We may ask you to order additional investigations depending on the individual circumstances.
  • Due to escalating waiting lists, we will prioritise CKD patients with:
    • eGFR <30mL/min
    • a sustained drop in eGFR of 25% within 12 months, OR rapidly declining eGFR
    • Persistent uACR >30mg/mmol despite treatment
    • BP which is difficult to control

Referral templates for Barwon Health services are available for importing into Best Practice, Medical Director or ZedMed. Please see the Referral templates page for the most up-to-date forms.

If you do not use the above clinical software, please complete a referral letter on your practice/health service letterhead, ensuring all required referral information is included.

If you need to contact us regarding the templates, please contact the GP Liaison Unit on 03 4215 8845 or [email protected].

For patients who require reassessment, a new referral should be sent through. To facilitate earlier access, the new referral must contain the following information:

  • State the referral is an update for a current patient
  • Date of original referral
  • Reason for requesting a review of referral (e.g. deterioration in clinical condition, pathology)

The referrer will be notified of the outcome of the re-triage process.

GPs or referring doctors wishing to discuss the triage of their patient’s referral, or who require additional information, please ring the GP hotline on 03 4215 1398.

Page last updated: September 8, 2025