Extending the default referral length from one year to indefinite is one of the more drastic proposals in the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s consultation on referral reform.

There is support for the idea, which the department says would save patients out-of-pocket expenses on GP appointments just for referral renewal.

But serious anxiety remains about the impact of such a change on GPs, non-GP specialists and patients.

Here, GP and medical adviser Dr Sally Parsons and legal and policy adviser Tracy Pickett from Avant explain the concerns.