Referrals for investigations or other services

Transferring patients to ward

All accepting teams should be aware of transfers out of DCCM to the ward. Teams will have accepted these patients already but there should also be a handover from the DCCM registrar to the accepting team at the time of discharge. This may be done via a phone call to the accepting team and you may document that this has occurred in the transfer summary.

Most patients will not need a medical escort on transfer to the ward.

Reviewing patients on ward

Patients who are referred to DCCM by other teams should be reviewed in a timely manner. At times this will require prioritisation of workload. If there multiple conflicting priorities then please discuss this with your colleagues and the on-call consultant as required.

If you have reviewed a patient on the ward then document your interaction (including brief follow-up reviews). In addition it is essential that you discuss with the referring team to ensure that they are aware of the suggested plan and any potential concerns involving the patient.

Echocardiograms

Echocardiograms can be requested through the Regional Clinical Portal. After selecting a patient then click on the “eRef” (e-Referrals) tab.

Click on the “Create Referral” in the new window that opens up and then select “Echocardiogram – Inpatient (ADHB)”. Complete the details in the form and then click on the submit button at the bottom of the form. Please ensure that sufficient clinical detail has been provided.

If your request is urgent or time critical then you will also need to phone the echocardiographers (Phone 23318) to discuss the request.

For urgent after hours echocardiograms then requests must be placed through the on-call cardiology registrar.

EEG/SSEPs/Nerve Conduction Studies

EEGs and Somatosensory Evoked Potentials can be requested through the Regional Clinical Portal. After selecting a patient then click on the “eRef” (e-Referrals) tab.

Click on the “Create Referral” in the new window that opens up and then select “Neurophysiology (Regional) Referral”. Complete the details in the form and then click on the submit button at the bottom of the form. Under the Test requested section of the form you are able to select EEG, Nerve conduction studies/EMG, or Evoked Potentials or a combination of these. Please ensure that sufficient clinical detail has been provided.

After you have placed the electronic referral then you must phone the Neurophysiology department to confirm and discuss timing (phone 25662 or 021857460). Urgent after hours requests will need discussion with the Neurology consultant on call.

Radiology requests

Radiology requests are placed using the Regional Clinical Portal. Select the patient and click on the “Orders” tab.

Select the correct encounter for the patient and then complete the form. You will need to select The correct modality on the left side of the screen. Once you have completed the initial screen (including any pop up boxes) then click on the button on the bottom right. 

On the following screen you should review the details and then in order for your request to be completed you must click on the button. If you do not do this then the order will not be placed.

For all imaging other than plain films you must phone the radiology department to have your request approved. This will also provide an opportunity to discuss timing of the scan and any other considerations with the radiology registrar or consultant. There are separate departments for neuroradiology, body CT scanning, and musculoskeletal MRI. These phone numbers are included in Appendix 4 and can also be found in the Referral Contact Number list on Hippo.

Other Radiology including interventional radiology

Interventional Radiology in Auckland Hospital is provided by either the Interventional Neuroradiologists or the Body Interventional Radiologists.

These teams are frequently busy with planned care during normal working hours.

If you need to make a referral to the Neuroradiology team then this may be done through the switchboard or by the number listed in the Referral Contact List (Appendix 4 or on Hippo).

If you are referring a patient to the Body Interventional Radiologists then during usual working hours you should attempt to contact the Interventional Radiology Fellow initially. After hours you may reach the on-call radiologist for interventional radiology via the switchboard.