THE radiology department is working hard to reduce waitlists as well as train and upskill staff to provide better access to image services in Swan Hill, according to radiology manager Natalie Barnes.
“The last few years have proved challenging for our radiology department, COVID and workforce shortages have meant that our waitlists have increased and at times our patients have had to attend health services elsewhere for their radiology appointments,” Ms Barnes said.
“There’s no doubt that the past few years have been frustrating for both our community and our staff, but do you know much about our sonographers?
“The training required to be fully qualified, what services we offer onsite at SHDH and how to submit your referral?”
Ms Banes has shed light.
“We have a team of five sonographers at Swan Hill District Health – a lucky position to be in considering the world-wide shortage of sonographers,” she said.
“Although currently staffed to three onsite, we also have locum sonographers and tutor sonographers who visit and regularly spend time in Swan Hill and working at SHDH.
“Our staff are highly experienced radiographers with an undergraduate degree in radiography and multiple years experience in CT, X-ray, fluoroscopy, theatre imaging, and trauma imaging both in metro and regional hospitals as well as post graduate degrees in ultrasound, meaning that they would have racked up between five and seven years of university each.”
Ms Barnes said your care was in the right hands, adding a trainee sonographer was required to complete a post graduate degree as well as on-the-job training, including 2200 hours of scanning with supervision.
“That many hours is a lot of hours to be supervised and can often impact the service in terms of staffing and opportunity to process appointments as efficiently as we would like, however at SHDH we see this as an opportunity to upskill our staff and better enable our patients, ensuring they don’t have to travel outside of Swan Hill for these services,” she said.
“Our team pride themselves on the rapport they develop with their patients, particularly in circumstances where a patient is seen often as part of their medical treatment plan.
“IVF patients come two to three times per week for ultrasounds, the team are there for them throughout the ups and downs, providing support and a hand to hold when needed.
“It is always a special highlight when babies are born through IVF and the radiology team get to meet them after being involved in the process often for years prior.”
Ms Barnes said sonographers continually made sure patients had the best access to quality healthcare and up-to-date knowledge on scanning and technical advances.
“Our sonographers attend conferences, workshops, tutor sessions and online training to ensure our patients have access to highly-skilled healthcare professionals,” she said.
“SHDH radiology also prides itself on our state-of-the-art equipment with ultrasound machines that rival some of our city counterparts and technology advances to offer superior diagnostic scanning.”
Contact the radiology team via an online form to request an appointment at www.shdh.org.au/patients-visitors/request-a-radiology-appointment.
Local sonographers can scan and assess:
• Abdominal organs like liver, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, gallbladder, prostate and bladder.
• Pelvic organs like ovaries and uterus.
• Shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, feet and pretty much anything that has a ligament, tendon or muscle attached to it.
• Veins and arteries throughout the whole body, including legs, abdomen, arms and neck.
• Small organs such as thyroid, scrotum, breasts and lumps.
• Hernias.
• Paediatric hips, brains and spines.
• Babies during pregnancy.
