Medical referral letter template
For doctors, nurse practitioners and clinics referring a patient to a specialist: a free template to copy, what to include, and a worked cardiology example.
[Practice name] [Address] • [Phone] • [Fax] • [Email] [Date] To: Dr [Name], [Specialty] [Practice or hospital] Re: [Patient name], DOB [date], [ID / MRN] Dear Dr [Name], Thank you for seeing [patient name], a [age]-year-old [sex], whom I am referring for [assessment / management] of [condition or question]. Reason for referral [The specific question you want answered.] History [Presenting complaint, duration, relevant findings, results so far, with values and units exactly as recorded.] Current medications [Drug, dose, frequency] Allergies [Allergies and reactions, or "No known drug allergies"] Relevant past history [Conditions, procedures] Urgency [Routine / soon / urgent, and why] Enclosed: [results, imaging reports, letters] Kind regards, Dr [Your Name] [Title, registration number]
Rather fill it in inside ABCcount? This template, a worked example and other professional templates are ready in New Project → Professional. Free with an account.
How to write a referral letter
- 1
Ask one clear question
Open with why you are referring: "to rule out a cardiac cause", "for management of", "for a second opinion on". The specialist triages on that sentence.
- 2
Give the history the specialist needs, not everything
Presenting complaint, how long, what you found, what you have done, what the results were. Leave out what does not bear on the question.
- 3
Copy values, doses and units exactly
BP 148/92 stays 148/92; 10 mg stays 10 mg. A rounded figure or a changed unit in a referral is a clinical error, not a style choice.
- 4
Keep your uncertainty in the letter
"Likely musculoskeletal, but cardiac not excluded" tells the specialist exactly where you are. Do not let it harden into a diagnosis you have not made.
- 5
List medications and allergies in full
Drug, dose and frequency, and every known allergy with its reaction, or "No known drug allergies".
- 6
State the urgency, and why
Routine, soon or urgent, with the reason, so the letter is triaged correctly.
- 7
Enclose results, and send it the approved way
Attach the reports you mention, and send through the channel your organisation uses for patient information.
Example: a referral to cardiology
Written from these notes, taken after the last patient:
62M, chest pain x2 days, worse on exertion. BP 148/92, HR 88. Started lisinopril 10mg daily 3 weeks ago. ECG NAD. Probably musculoskeletal but want to rule out cardiac. Ref cardiology.
To: Dr [Name], Cardiology [Hospital] Re: [Patient name], DOB [date], MRN [number] Dear Dr [Name], Thank you for seeing this 62-year-old man, whom I am referring for assessment of exertional chest pain. Reason for referral To rule out a cardiac cause of chest pain that is worse on exertion. History Chest pain for two days, worse on exertion. BP 148/92, HR 88. ECG shows no abnormality. I think the pain is likely musculoskeletal, but a cardiac cause has not been excluded. Current medications Lisinopril 10 mg once daily, started three weeks ago. Allergies [Allergies, or "No known drug allergies"] Urgency Soon: within [timeframe]. Enclosed: ECG Kind regards, Dr [Your Name]
Every figure is unchanged: 62, two days, 148/92, 88, 10 mg, three weeks. And the doubt is still there: likely musculoskeletal, cardiac not excluded.
The mistake AI tools make with clinical letters
Asked to make the same notes “clearer and more concise”, a general-purpose AI assistant returned a neat structured summary (run on 30 September 2026). One line of it:
• ECG: Normal (no acute distress).
In the notes, NAD meant no abnormality detected. The rewrite read it as no acute distress, which describes how a patient looks, and filed it as a finding the clinician never recorded, attached to the ECG. A specialist reading that letter would have no way to know.
Tidy clinical writing without changing what it says
ABCcount's Medical mode turns shorthand into a clear letter and then checks the result against your notes: doses, units, values, sides of the body and negative results come back exactly as they went in. Try it free: 7 days of Pro for one person, or a 14-day pilot for your practice. No card. As with any tool, follow your organisation's rules on patient information.
Frequently asked questions
What should a medical referral letter include?
Patient details, the reason for referral as a clear question, relevant history and findings, results with values and units, current medications with doses, allergies, relevant past history, urgency, and what is enclosed.
How long should a referral letter be?
Usually one page. Enough for the specialist to triage and prepare, without making them search for the question.
Can I use AI to write a referral letter?
To tidy the wording, carefully, and only in a tool your organisation allows for patient information. Read the result against your notes: general AI tools tend to expand abbreviations wrongly, round figures, and turn "possible" into a finding. Each of those changes what the specialist reads.
How do I write a letter the patient can understand?
Use plain words for conditions and tests, explain what happens next and what the patient should do, and keep every figure and date exactly as in the clinical letter. Shorter sentences help more than simpler words.
Is this the right template for an employee or job referral?
No: this one is for referring a patient to another clinician. For a job or business referral, our free Letter and Cover Letter templates in New Project are a better start.
Also free: an incident report template and a demand letter template.