If Your Surgeon Has Retired or Moved On
What to do if your orthopaedic surgeon has retired, relocated or is no longer practising — how to get your records, whether you need a new referral, and how care continues part-way through treatment in Perth.
Surgeons retire. They relocate, they change hospitals, and occasionally they stop practising at short notice. If that has happened to yours, the position you are left in is a frustrating one — particularly if you were part-way through a plan, waiting on a date, or booked in for a follow-up that no longer exists.
It is a more common situation than most people realise, and a very manageable one.
“Picking up someone else’s patient part-way through is a normal part of the job. What people worry about is having to start from scratch — and mostly, you don’t. If we know what was done and when, we’re carrying on from there, not going back to the beginning.” — Dr Rhys Clark
Where to start
Your GP is the right first call. Whether you need a new referral depends on your existing one. A referral does not have to name a particular specialist, and one that does can generally be used with another specialist in the same field — but not if you had already started treatment with the named specialist, and not once it has expired. In either of those cases you will need a new one, and an updated referral is often worthwhile anyway because it brings your clinical details up to date. Your GP can sort that out and bring you up to date at the same visit.
If your previous surgeon’s rooms are still open, contact them before they close. Ask for a copy of your records, your operation notes if you have had surgery, and any imaging. This is the single thing that makes the handover easiest, and it becomes much harder once a practice has wound down.
Getting your records
You are entitled to access your own health information. Ring the rooms, ask for a copy of your file, and expect that they may charge a reasonable fee for producing it.
What is most useful:
- Operation notes, if you have had surgery
- Details of any implant used — the make and model matter
- Recent X-rays, CT or MRI scans, and the reports that accompany them
- Correspondence between your surgeon and your GP
- Anything you have been given about your treatment plan
If you cannot get all of it, come anyway. Partial information is still a starting point, and some of it can be tracked down through the hospital or the imaging practice.
If you are already part-way through
This is the situation that worries people most, and it is the one that is usually most straightforward.
If you have had a joint replacement and your surgeon has since retired, your follow-up can be picked up by someone else. If you were on a waiting list, that unfortunately does not transfer — but a referral to a new surgeon gets the process moving again. If something has gone wrong with a previous replacement, that is revision surgery, and it is a substantial part of Dr Clark’s practice.
“The hardest revisions aren’t the technically difficult ones — they’re the ones where nobody knows what’s actually in the joint. Bring the paperwork and you’ve solved most of that problem before we’ve even started.”
What to bring to your first appointment
- Your referral — a new one, or your existing one if your GP has confirmed it can still be used
- Any imaging you have, with the written reports
- Your operation notes and implant details, if you have had surgery
- Your Medicare card, and private health fund details if you are covered
- A list of your current medications
Where Dr Clark consults
Consultations are available at St John of God Medical Clinic in Murdoch and at consulting rooms in Mandurah, with surgery performed at St John of God Murdoch, with public lists at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
To arrange an appointment, phone (08) 6332 6365 or send an enquiry through the contact page.
My orthopaedic surgeon has retired. What do I do now?+
Start with your GP. If you had already started treatment with your previous surgeon, or your referral has expired, you will usually need a new referral; even where the old one could still be used, an updated referral brings the new specialist up to date. Your GP can arrange that at the same time as bringing you up to date. If you have already had surgery or are part-way through a treatment plan, ask your previous surgeon's rooms for a copy of your records and imaging before the practice winds down — that information makes the handover much smoother.
Do I need a new referral to see a different surgeon?+
Not always. A referral does not have to name a particular specialist, and under current Medicare rules a referral that does name one can generally be used to see another specialist in the same specialty — unless you had already started treatment with the named specialist, in which case a new referral is usually needed. A fresh referral is often worthwhile anyway, because it brings your clinical details up to date and replaces one that may have expired. Your GP or the new rooms can check your existing referral before the appointment so your Medicare rebate is not held up.
How do I get a copy of my medical records?+
Contact the rooms where you were treated and ask for a copy of your records, operation notes and imaging. You have a right to access your own health information, and practices can charge a reasonable fee for providing it. If your surgeon's practice is closing, request this sooner rather than later — records are harder to track down once the rooms have shut.
I have already had surgery. Can a new surgeon take over my follow-up?+
Yes. Taking over care part-way through is routine, and it is a large part of what revision work involves. What matters is having a clear picture of what was done — the operation notes, which implant was used, and any imaging since. Bring whatever you have and Dr Clark will work out the rest.
Will I have to start all over again with scans and appointments?+
Not usually. If you bring recent imaging and the reports that go with it, that work does not need repeating. Sometimes an additional scan is needed — a CT for surgical planning, for instance — but the aim is to build on what has already been done rather than duplicate it.
Do I have to explain everything again from the beginning?+
Some of it, yes — it helps to hear the story in your own words. But the more paperwork you bring, the less time is spent retracing ground you have already covered, and the more is spent on where things go from here.