A patient should be registered on a gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) waiting list where a request for an elective, non-surgical or minimally invasive GIE procedure has been received and accepted. GIE service requests can be for:
- a new service;
- a recall service, where the patient must be recalled to provide the intended initial service that failed, or to follow up from the initial service for a review;
- a surveillance service, where a procedure is required to be performed as part of an ongoing observational program, usually to monitor a patient with an existing condition or for a patient at risk of developing a condition.

For each GIE procedure a patient is to receive, a separate waiting list entry is required.	

The service request is initiated when the waiting list registration occurs. For GIE services utilising a direct access referral model, waiting list registration occurs when the referral is received and triaged. For referral models where an assessment of the patient is undertaken first, waiting list registration occurs when the practitioner assesses the patient and determines that the procedure is required.

The service request ends when the patient is removed from the waiting list. The most common reason a patient is removed from a GIE waiting list is because the gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed.