80781 or 80782.CDHB
All imaging (except mammography) from Canterbury DHB, South Canterbury DHB and West Coast DHB is stored in the Canterbury DHB PACS. Radiology Department staff can assist with accessing imaging from other local providers' PACS and other DHBs. Reports for all publicly funded imaging in the greater Christchurch area, including imaging undertaken by private providers, are copied in to the Canterbury DHB Eclair results repository as part of TestSafe.
Paper or electronic forms are accepted. If using a paper form, ensure the patient's full name, date of birth and hospital number are included (a patient identification sticker is sufficient), and that your name, a contact pager number and the responsible Consultant’s name are clearly written. If using the electronic order entry system, please select the correct patient encounter and the correct Consultant or team responsible for report sign-off, and make sure your role and contact details are up to date. The electronic order entry system will display messages on the status of any electronic orders placed, including triage, waitlisting and scheduling information. If the electronic order entry system is down, please use paper forms (they can be printed from the Radiology site on the intranet).
Adequate clinical information is mandatory to ensure the most appropriate examination is performed. Please include current clinical presentation, relevant past history that may be important to image interpretation (e.g., prior malignancy, surgery, smoking) and the question to be answered by imaging. If there has been relevant previous imaging by a site/provider who does not use the CDHB PACS, please provide details.
Please note that a contrast consent form is required for the majority of MRI and CT scans. The consent form must be filled in on the ward for patients unable to give consent e.g., patients who are confused or unable to communicate.
Radiology reports are distributed electronically for sign-off. Each department is responsible for identifying who is responsible for signing reports (emergency and inpatients reports should be signed within 24 hours, outpatient reports within 3 days). Reports that are not signed in a timely manner will be automatically escalated to an alternative responsible Consultant for sign-off.
Radiologists and Radiology Registrars practice under a subspecialty organization. The subspecialty areas are: emergency, cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, abdominal imaging, oncology imaging, paediatric radiology, neuro imaging, interventional radiology and obstetric and gynaecology radiology. The first point of contact should be the Registrar attached to the subspecialty area. Radiologist office-related enquiries should be made to 80781 or 80782.
Radiology examinations should only be specifically asked for during evenings, nights, and weekends if the examination is likely to significantly change the patient's management before the next working day. The Registrar on call must be consulted for acute examinations in specialized areas such as CT, MRI, ultrasound, and interventional radiology. The Registrar pager is 8911. Registrar office in Radiology is 89369.
Topic Code: 1261