The IMO insist that patient safety must be the predominant driving motivator for system change and the standardised generic patient referral dataset and template must not be used as an excuse to reduce hospital administrative staff.

The IMO has recommended to HIQA that a pilot study should be carried out to make sure the final patient referral dataset and template:

• is user-friendly for the GP
• does not add to the workload of the GP
• can be easily embedded within GP practice management systems
• can be effectively and securely transmitted between healthcare settings.