Referral Letter Template for Allied Health: What to Include and How to Generate One Faster
By The Kitt Team
The blank page at 5:30pm. You know what the letter needs to say. You have written something close to it dozens of times before. The structure does not change, only the client details do, and yet most clinicians start from scratch every time.
Here is a reusable template. Copy it, keep the bones, swap in the clinical detail. If you want to understand why the format matters before you fill in the fields, that post covers it. This one is the template.
The allied health referral letter template
The structure below fits most allied health referrals. Keep the headings, fill the brackets.
[Practice letterhead / logo]
[Clinician name], [Qualifications]
[Practice name]
[Address]
[Phone] | [Email]
[Date]
To: [Referring or receiving clinician name]
Practice: [Practice name]
Re: [Client full name] | DOB: [DD/MM/YYYY] | [Medicare number if applicable]
Dear [Dr / Mr / Ms Surname],
Reason for writing
I am writing to [refer / update you on / request investigation for] [Client first name],
who presented to our practice with [brief presenting complaint or working diagnosis].
Relevant findings and assessment
[Describe objective findings relevant to the referral. Include named outcome measures
with scores where applicable, e.g. a numeric pain rating scale score of 7/10,
a range-of-motion measurement, or a functional assessment result. Note any relevant
history, prior imaging, or investigation results.]
Treatment provided and response
[Client first name] has attended [number] sessions of [treatment type or programme].
[Summarise response to treatment, including any measurable change in outcome measures,
e.g. a range-of-motion gain in degrees or a change in pain score.] [Note any barriers
to progress or factors influencing the presentation.]
Request / recommendation
[State your specific ask: onward referral, imaging, review, altered care plan, or
specialist assessment. Name the clinician type, investigation, or action required.]
Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you require further information.
Yours sincerely,
[Clinician name]
[Qualifications and registration number]
[Practice name]
[Phone] | [Email]What to include in each section
Re line. Full name, date of birth, and Medicare number together. The receiving clinician needs to match the letter to a file before reading the first line.
Reason for writing. One sentence. Name the presenting complaint or working diagnosis, and state what you are asking for.
Relevant findings and assessment. Name the outcome measure and give the score: “PSFS 3/10 at baseline” is more useful than “significant functional limitation”. Include any imaging or investigation results that change the clinical picture.
Treatment provided and response. Summarise what you did and what changed. Measurable change is better than descriptive change: a range-of-motion gain in degrees, a shift in a numeric rating score, a functional milestone reached. If progress has plateaued, say so plainly.
Request or recommendation. One specific ask. “Referral to an orthopaedic surgeon for assessment of the right shoulder” is a request. “Consideration of onward referral if deemed appropriate” is not.
Contact details. Repeat them at the bottom, even if they are on the letterhead. A clinician reading a printed letter should not have to flip to the top to find your number.
Three variants for common situations
a. Progress report to the referring GP under a care plan
Under a care plan, the Reason line becomes: “I am writing to provide a progress report for [Client first name] under the current chronic disease management plan.” The Request section becomes a recommendation: state whether the current plan remains appropriate, whether a review is indicated, or whether a referral extension is warranted.
b. Onward referral to a specialist or another clinician
The Reason line becomes: “I am writing to refer [Client first name] for specialist assessment.” The Treatment section should state clearly what has been tried and why further input is needed. The Request section names the specialty and the specific question you need answered.
c. Imaging or investigation request
State the clinical question in the Reason and Assessment sections, not just the symptom. The Request section becomes: “I am requesting [named investigation] to [state the clinical question].” Include any relevant contraindications or prior imaging.
Where a template still falls short
A template gives you structure. It does not fix three common problems.
A vague ask. “Consideration of further management as clinically appropriate” is not a request. Before you close the letter, re-read the Request section and ask whether the receiving clinician knows exactly what to do next.
Dumping the clinical note. A referral letter is a handover, not a chart export. Include only what the receiving clinician needs in order to act.
Missing or buried contact details. The template above repeats them at the bottom. A clinician who cannot find your number easily may not call you back.
The fuller list of structural and Medicare-reporting considerations is in the allied health referral letters explainer.
Generate a referral letter faster with kitt
The template solves the structure problem. The drafting problem is different: you still need to pull the right clinical detail from memory at the end of a long day.
kitt keeps both sides of a client’s care in one place. The referral letter is one document that comes out of the same session. You dictate or discuss what happened in the consultation; kitt drafts the referral letter from that, structured, editable and Medicare-ready. You start from a draft, not a blank page.
kitt drafts it. You review, edit and approve before anything is sent. Nothing leaves without your sign-off.
Letters sit alongside notes, treatment plans and imaging requests in kitt. The treatment plan goes out to the client through Companion, kitt’s client-facing app. Adherence and pain data come back to you between visits. The referral letter is one input to a connected record, not a separate admin task bolted on at the end of the day.
Finished letters can sync to Cliniko as an attachment. Documentation in kitt supports your AHPRA record-keeping obligations.
On pricing: the Professional plan is A$69 per clinician per month with Companion included. There is a free tier, and a one-month free trial with no card required.
Frequently asked questions
Can I reuse one referral letter template for every client?
Yes. The structure stays the same for every letter. What changes is the clinical detail: the presenting complaint, the findings, the outcome measure scores, the specific ask. Keep the bones, fill the brackets differently each time.
How do I write referral letters faster?
Two things together: a reusable template so you are never starting from a blank structure, and generating the draft from the session so you are not reconstructing clinical detail from memory. The template above handles the first part. kitt handles the second.
Does kitt send the referral letter for me?
No. kitt drafts the letter from the consultation; you review, edit and approve it before it is sent.
The takeaway
The structure of a referral letter is the same every time. Only the clinical detail changes. A good template gets you most of the way there. Generating the draft from the session, rather than reconstructing it from memory at the end of the day, gets you the rest.