The Referral Decision Aid is designed to support the referral of preschool-aged children with developmental delays to appropriate services in Melbourne’s west, in a timely manner.
**This Referral Decision Aid was designed to be used prior to NDIS implementation beginning October 2018, and referral pathways may no longer be valid**
Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) is no longer accepting referrals, children eligible for this service should now be referred to the NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention provider: ndis.bsl.org.au/early-childhood-early-intervention.
Click to download the Referral Decision Aid
Click to download the Information for Users
Introducing the Referral Decision Aid – slide presentation
A simple PowerPoint slide presentation was developed to support individuals to introduce the Referral Decision Aid within their organisation or networks. The slide presentation can be modified as appropriate for different situations.
Click to download the slide presentation.
Development of the Referral Decision Aid
Referrers and service providers in our region indicated that the existing service system for children with developmental delay can be complex, confusing and disjointed. Broad consultations across Melbourne’s west found a lack of clarity about service eligibility or knowledge of the services offered by each service, with high numbers of inappropriate referrals being made.
Read about the consultations including key findings and recommendations for action on the Pathways for Children with Developmental Delays project page.
Key service providers and agencies formed an Alliance to work together to develop a tool that would support clear and consistent eligibility and referrals across the region.
The following agencies were involved throughout the development of the Referral Decision Aid and have signed off on its use:
- Western Health
- Djerriwarrh Health Service
- cohealth
- IPC Health
- Royal Children’s Hospital
- Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) intake
- Department of Health and Human Services (Western Region)
Evaluating the Referral Decision Aid
In 2018, HealthWest engaged First Person Consulting to conduct a process and impact evaluation, exploring the short-term outcomes of the Referral Decision Aid, as well as documenting key lessons learned in the process that can inform future work of a similar nature in Melbourne’s west and beyond.
- Read the Evaluation of the Referral Decision Aid report here.