Allied Health
We provide care for patients requiring health management, diagnostics and rehabilitation.
Allied Health general enquiries
7117 3010
What we do
Allied health professionals can provide assessment and management for a range of non-emergency physical and mental health concerns.
Allied health services available at the RAH are often provided in conjunction with other departments for inpatients, with some allied health services available as outpatient clinics. All services, whether inpatient or outpatient, require a referral.
Outpatient allied health services
Aboriginal Health Practitioners raise awareness, provide culturally appropriate services and advocate on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner can help by:
- connecting with patients who are often far from home
- developing a cultural care plan referring to a range of service providers
- using a range of culturally appropriate resources and language to ensure that clients understand why they are in hospital and their options for treatment
- taking time to talk about health risk factors, educate and refer to Aboriginal support services
- understanding the cultural, environmental and social determinants of health, plus much more.
Find out more about The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing Hub (The Hub) and how to get help from a practitioner during your appointment or stay at the RAH.
Audiology services provide evaluation of hearing function and associated disorders of the ear including hearing loss, vertigo and tinnitus to inpatients and outpatients.
Audiologists are university graduates with extensive and ongoing postgraduate training in hearing sciences and human communications.
Services are available at RAH, Monday to Friday.
Phone Audiology reception: 7074 0734
Provides inpatient and outpatient psychometric assessments for suspected brain changes/injury and cognitive impairment.
Clinical Neuropsychologists are specialists in the assessment, identification and diagnosis of cognitive disorders and associated psychological conditions.
Common areas of cognition that are assessed by a Clinical Neuropsychologist include:
- attention and concentration
- speed of information processing
- learning and memory
- complex skills such as problem solving, reasoning, and planning.
A Clinical Neuropsychologist’s opinion may be sought for:
- diagnosis and differential diagnosis
- assessment of decision-making capacity
- characterisation of cognitive strengths and weaknesses
- rehabilitation and discharge planning
- development of tailored cognitive strategies.
Neuropsychologists can be used on acute and non-acute cases and work closely with many other units including Neurology and Rehabilitation services.
Nutrition & Dietetics is made up of dietitians, allied health/nutrition & dietetic assistants, dietary/enteral formula room staff and diet monitors who provide a comprehensive range of nutrition services to both in and out patients.
Dietitians interpret the science of nutrition to improve health and treat or manage the symptoms of disease. This may be done by providing patients, families and/or carers with or educating on therapeutic diets, oral nutrition support, enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition. Dietitians educate other healthcare and food service staff on aspects of patient nutritional care as well as undertaking quality improvement activities and research.
Dietitians are university graduates who undertake ongoing postgraduate training and are eligible for membership of Dietitians Australia.
This service delivers patient centred treatment for both inpatients and outpatients.
Services include:
- acute prosthetic rehabilitation – including pre-surgery consultation, immediate post-operative care and peer support
- interim prosthetic program – provides new amputees with fitting of their first prosthetic limb, walking training and education as either an inpatient or as an outpatient attending day rehabilitation. This service is delivered in a multi-disciplinary environment alongside other health professionals
- definitive prosthetic program – our program delivers lifelong prosthetic services for amputees living in the community with rapid access to other allied health, medical and nursing disciplines as required
- amputee clinic – the amputee clinic is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This clinic provides prosthetic and medical review for amputees to ensure their prosthesis is working well and enabling early identification of any adjustments or maintenance that may be required
- orthotic outpatient services – provides orthotic management for people living in the community, including assessment and the provision of a device for the management of trauma and injury, diabetic foot conditions, burns and other neurological and musculoskeletal conditions.
Resources
Physiotherapy outpatient services are provided at both the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH). While many services are provided at both sites, patients may be directed to a particular site for management of specific conditions.
Physiotherapy services provided include:
- adult musculoskeletal conditions
- burns outpatients (state-wide)
- patients referred from the RAH Pain Management Unit with chronic pain
- haemophilia (state-wide)
- hand therapy
- Lymphoedema - limited service and eligibility
- patients with a chronic respiratory disease who may benefit from instruction in airway clearance techniques
- assessment and treatment of pelvic floor function and continence issues (male and female)
Services not covered:
- chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s, stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease, spasticity
- bandaging/garments for vascular conditions
- exercise prescription for weight control
- soft tissue massage only
- paediatric conditions - see Women's and Children's Hospital children's physiotherapy
- return to work/Industrial Rehabilitation/Work Cover/Motor Accident claims or any compensable condition.
A specialist unit focused on the prevention of foot and lower limb amputations in patients with complex medical conditions.
The RAH is the triage hub for all Podiatry and Multidisciplinary Foot Clinic and Telehealth Foot Service referrals for regional, rural, remote and isolated locations.
Psychologists work as part of the multi-disciplinary team and offer evidence-based, psychological assessment and intervention to assist in the management of health conditions and injury.
We also conduct neuropsychological assessments and provide opinions regarding cognitive functioning. Psychologists have completed accredited post-graduate training programs and are registered by the Psychology Board of Australia.
The Psychology Department incorporates the disciplines of clinical psychology, health psychology and clinical neuropsychology. We are also actively involved in clinical research and welcome enquiries from health professionals and post-graduate students who are interested in discussing collaborative projects.
Speech pathology services provide client-centred assessment and management of swallowing and communication difficulties across acute inpatients, inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient, home and community settings.
Our goal is to achieve functional outcomes for clients, that enable them to live with optimal independence, safety and quality of life.
Speech pathologists are university trained allied health professionals with expertise in the assessment and treatment of communication, swallowing and upper airway difficulties and are eligible for membership of Speech Pathology Australia.
Health professionals: Speech Pathology | Royal Adelaide Hospital
Patients: Speech, communication & swallowing (Speech… | Royal Adelaide Hospital
The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) Wellness Service provides health information and works collaboratively with other RAH departments and outside organisations to increase the capacity of the community to improve their health.
Health is more than the absence of disease, it is the process of enabling people to take control over and improve their health.
The role of the RAH Wellness Service is to promote health initiatives and programs and improve access to reliable health information for patients, staff and the community.
Some of the Wellness Service initiatives include:
- Provision of relevant health brochures
- Supporting National and State health initiatives
You need a referral from a GP or medical practitioner to access this service.
Once your referral has been received it will be triaged according to clinical urgency.
If your referral is accepted, you will either:
- receive a letter, phone call or text message confirming your appointment time, date and location
- receive a letter confirming you have been waitlisted for an appointment.
If the referral is declined, your GP or referring medical practitioner will be notified.
Outpatient services
Find out information about specialist outpatient appointments, how to be referred, plus information when attending an outpatient clinic.
Your outpatient appointment
Contact us to:
- change your appointment time
- cancel your appointment
- find out triage status
- general outpatient enquiries.
If you need to cancel or change your appointment time, let us know as soon as possible.
Allied health services accept GP, private specialists, allied health and other health professional referrals.
A written referral is required prior to an appointment being issued.
Referrals should include:
- patient details - address, date of birth, contact phone number, medicare number, pension card
- reason for referral
- relevant clinical history of the patient
- list of current medications
- current treatment regimen
- recent relevant test results – x-ray, pathology, etc
- referrer's name and contact details.
Urgent and serious referrals
If you are concerned about the appointment being delayed or if the patient's condition is deteriorating, contact the registrar to discuss.
Registrars are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Patients requiring immediate assessment should be sent directly to the Emergency Department.
Referral forms
Referral forms here
Specific guidelines not covered in general info above
Referral forms here
Specific guidelines not covered in general info above
Referral forms here
Specific guidelines not covered in general info above
- CALHN Orthotics assessment request form (PDF 154 KB)
- CALHN Prosthetic Service referral form (DOC 52 KB)
Exclusions
Patients referred for items that are readily available for purchase in local pharmacies will not be offered an appointment.
Referral forms here
Specific guidelines not covered in general info above
We have Rapid Access (same day) appointments available Monday- Friday. These appointments are triaged based on clinical urgency.
Telehealth appointments are available as co-consult with a local clinician and the patient for those who are unable to attend face-to-face.
Inclusion criteria
Urgent
- Foot wound deep to tendon/bone
- Foot wound in the absence of pedal pulses
- Foot wound not healing after 4 weeks of appropriate treatment
- Known or suspected acute Charcot neuroarthropathy
- Local (moderate) foot infection (e.g. cellulitis/osteomyelitis)
Semi-urgent
- Foot wound with no signs of clinical infection
- Ingrown nail in high-risk patient (non-infected)
Send to Emergency Department
- Foot wound with systemic signs of illness (e.g. sepsis)
- Critical Limb Ischaemia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are classified as at high risk of foot complications and therefore will be provided appointments for both active foot ulceration and preventive care.
Contact The Hub to access to an Aboriginal Health Practitioner. They are available on request to support culturally safe care within our service.
Complete the Podiatry High Risk Foot Service referral form (PDF 193KB)
Email completed referral form to HealthCALHNPodiatry@sa.gov.au
Exclusions
We do not provide ongoing services, general foot care or footwear provision. For access to these services refer to:
- find a private podiatrist on the Australian Podiatry Association website
- the UniSA student clinic 8302 2269
Resources
Referral forms here
Specific guidelines not covered in general info above
Referral forms here
Specific guidelines not covered in general info above