Shared service a boost for region

FIRST STEP IN PLAN: The radiology team is made up of doctors Ken Bricker (left), Sonia Wong, Alex Burghard, Jaco van der Walt (clinical lead), Nick Humphries, Ross Stevens and Kelli Hart. PHOTO/SUPPLIED.

Wairarapa Hospital now has an in-house radiology service which it will share with Hutt Hospital.

From this week, Wairarapa and Hutt Valley district health boards will share radiologists, digital reporting systems and work stations instead of contracting the service to Pacific Radiology, a private company based in Wellington.

A specialist radiologist from the Hutt radiology team will come to Wairarapa four days a week, working with the Wairarapa DHB's imaging team.

The team has 10 radiographers and sonographers who provide x-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds, which are then reviewed and interpreted by the radiologists, who report their findings to the clinicians who ordered the imaging.

Pacific Radiology will still provide some types of scans such as nuclear medicine, bone density and PET scans.

The Hutt-Wairarapa shared service is the first stage of a plan for all three Greater Wellington region DHBS, including Capital and Coast, to share a single radiology service.

According to a statement released by the DHB, demand for a radiology service, particularly for more complex imaging, continues to grow and the merging of the services is a way of managing this demand.

More than 30,000 examinations are undertaken every year in Wairarapa.

DHB director clinical support services Tina Ririnui says there will be benefits for doctors and patients. The service will increase the range of services available locally, meaning less travel and easier access.

"It means processes and procedures across the two DHBs will be aligned and a radiologist on-site four days a week will provide greater support and patient flow.

"Increased on-site presence of a radiologist will make it easier for Wairarapa Hospital doctors to work directly with the radiologists regarding specific patient cases."

GPs will also have increased access to a liaison radiologist, who will be directly available by phone, and additional support will be available after-hours.

"The new service will make the best use of available funding in response to growing demand for radiology.

"For example, we now have a new MRI machine based in Hutt which will service the whole region."