Community Services Statistics, April 2026

A service referral is a request for a care service to be provided for a person needing care. This could include patient self-referrals for an appointment to see or to be in contact with a care professional. 

Across all submitters of referrals data, there were 1,736,220 referral requests in total during April 2026. Of these, 252,895 referrals were for children and young people, 498,405 referrals were for adults aged 19 to 64, and 982,955 were for adults aged 65 and over.

Across all submitters of referral data in April 2026, there were 1,200,350 patients with a referral received during the month, of which 220,750 were children and young people, 411,905 were adults aged 19 to 64, and 565,835 were adults aged 65 and over.

Referral reason is submitted in 71.1% of records. Where recorded (excluding 'Reason for referral not known' and 'Missing Value / Value Outside Parameters'), the top 3 reasons
for referral are Musculoskeletal Problems, Haematology/Phlebotomy & Healthy Child Pathway.

More detailed information on referral reason, including breakdowns by age band and gender are available in the accompanying data file.