Ultrasound
Inpatient and ED Ultrasound Referrals
See below information for organising ultrasound (US) scans for Inpatients and ED patients across Western Health's campuses.
For outpatient requests, see "Outpatient Referrals" page
Ordering Tips
Separate orders are required for DVT US and adjacent joints (ie: 1 order for DVT and 1 order for joint US)
Use order request "DVT" for DVT US (other types of doppler code to varicose veins / venous insufficiency studies)
Leg arterials take 1 hr per lower limb to assess, and often need to be staged across different days. If timeslots are limited, sometimes outpatient arterial US can be more quickly accommodated at Western Vascular Diagnostics
Sunshine ED Live status checker
Click here to view live Sunshine ED US scan scheduling, status and progress (link only works from hospital network or hospital Wifi).
Status info:
Ordered: Awaiting protocolling
Pending: US has been approved and scheduled for the given time slot
Arrived: Patient has been called for, scan will begin imminently
Started: Scanning is in progress
Complete: Sonographer has completed the study, includin their worksheet
Provisional: Registrar report dictated, pending consultant review
*Studies which have been finalised will disappear from this list
If approaching handover time (around 5pm or late in the evening), and study has not been actioned into a dedicated time slot / arrived or started, you may need to liaise with the duty registrar to discuss logistics, call-backs or next day arrangements.
In Business Hours Ultrasound (8.30am - 5.00pm Monday - Friday)
ED Referrals
Enter EMR request
Request checked, authorised and booked from request list, no need for phone call
To check booking timeslots or cancel a study, call Ultrasound department directly
Footscray 56969
Sunshine 50351
To disucss with Duty Radiologist for advice, urgent or complex requests, call
Footscray 57223
Sunshine 50024
Above approval prcoess applies for patients admitted under inpatient bedcard, but still located in ED
No call needed for scans ordered overnight, which can be done on next business day (protocolled off list accordingly)
Inpatient Referrals
(Patient on inpatient ward, not in ED)
Enter EMR request
Call duty radiology registrar to check and authorise study
Footscray 57223
Sunshine 50024
To check booking timeslots or cancel a study, call Ultrasound department directly
Footscray 56969
Sunshine 50351
Evening and Weekend Ultrasound List Bookings
Weekday Evenings
Sunshine Evening Ultraound ED List
5.00pm to 10.00pm, Monday to Friday
Sonographer located in Fast Track, Sunshine ED
No routine weekday Footscray evening US coverage (if needed, see Emergecny Sonographer call-in secion below)
Weekends
Sunshine Weekend Ultrasound
8.30am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday
Footscray Weekend Ultrasound
8.30am to 1pm, Sunday only
Organising an Ultrasound on one of the above lists
Enter EMR request
Call duty radiology registrar (Ext57223 or Ext50024) to organise scans that need to be done on evening or weekend list
For Sunday lists, Duty reg will log cases in an internal database, to make it easier for the Sunday sonographer to know what cases have been approved since the close of business on Friday.
There is currently NO Williamstown after-hours Ultrasound service on evenings nor weekends.
If you need advice regarding a patient in Williamstown ED who needs US imaging, please call duty radiologist on Ext57223 or ext50024 for advice
ED Patients d/c home and return for ultrasound
ED clinician orders on EMR, specifying in details as “d/c home and come back for scan”
Phone call to duty reg for approval
Duty reg adds patient to list in appropriate time slot
Clinician prints request and patient information sheet, gives these to patient, circling which slot they’re booked in.
If all slots already taken, circle “patient to call US bookings to arrange”
Patient calls campus US number in the morning to organise their outpatient scan
DO NOT SEND PATIENTS TO ULTRASOUND WITHOUT A BOOKING SLOT. They may experience lengthy delays for many hours, or we may be unable to facilitate their scan
If a business hours/evening/weekend list is full?
Duty reg + sonographer to liaise re: priority scans and on-call sonographer call-in if needed.
Discuss alternative arrangements with referrers as needed
DO NOT SEND PATIENTS TO ULTRASOUND WITHOUT A BOOKING SLOT. They may experience lengthy delays for many hours, or we may be unable to facilitate their scan
Overnight / out-of hours emergency sonographer call-in
Call duty registrar to approve and organise (extension 57223 or 50024)
Check timing / Cancel Scan
Call US department at relevant campus directly:
Footscray
Sunshine
Williamstown