Radiology | Auckland | Te Toka Tumai

Greenlane Clinical Centre

Contact Details

Phone (09) 367 0000

Street Address

214 Green Lane West
Epsom
Auckland 1051

Postal Address

Private Bag 92 189
Auckland Mail Centre
Auckland 1142

Starship Child Health, Central Auckland

Contact Details

Phone (09) 307 4949

Street Address

2 Park Road
Grafton
Auckland 1023

Postal Address

Starship Child Health
Private Bag 92 024
Auckland Mail Centre
Auckland 1142
New Zealand

Auckland City Hospital

Contact Details

Phone (09) 367 0000

Mental Health Services

Street Address

2 Park Road
Grafton
Auckland 1023

Postal Address

Private Bag 92 024
Auckland Mail Centre
Auckland 1142

Description

What is Radiology? 
Radiological procedures are used for looking at the internal structures of the body, whether bone or soft tissue. Usually these examinations are carried out to:
  • diagnose disease states, such as cancer or heart disease
  • show if there is injury to body structures
  • provide images of organs to help other specialists repair problems e.g. angiography of the heart.
 
The radiologist may use different methods such as X-ray, Computer Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasound as well as some other specialised types of radiological imaging.
 
The Team
  • Medical Imaging Technologists (MITs) - formerly known as Medical Radiation Technologists (MRTs) or Radiographers perform your X-ray, MRI, CT, barium and mammography examinations.
  • Sonographers are MITs who perform your ultrasound examinations.
  • Radiologists are specialist doctors who read and understand your films. They will also be involved if you have an intravenous urogram (IVU), X-ray, MRI, CT, barium study, mammogram and a number of other ultrasound procedures. They interpret the results of the images and send them to your doctor.

How Safe is Radiology?
Some forms of radiology use sound waves, some use x-rays and some use magnetic fields. Nuclear medicine uses small amounts of radioactive material injected into the body to help with patient diagnosis.

The sound waves (ultrasound) and the magnetic fields (MRI scan), as far as we know, have no harmful side effects. X-rays and Nuclear Medicine use what is known as ionising radiation. Large single ionising radiation doses that are much greater than those used in medical diagnosis, are known to carry a risk of causing cancer. At the radiation dose levels used in medicine it is unclear what, if any increase in cancer risk exists. We are obliged by law to make sure we only use ionising radiation when we think the potential benefits to you are greater than the risks. We carefully select the lowest dose procedure to provide you and your doctor with the diagnostic information needed to best manage your health. If you wish to find out more about the radiation risks of different radiology procedures please click here.

Referral Expectations

You must be assessed by your GP before you can be referred to the Radiology Department at the Auckland DHB (Greenlane and Starship sites). As there is only a certain amount of money and a limited number of specialists working at the hospital, it is not possible for the Radiology Department to see every patient who is referred.

There are currently more requests for appointments than we have the capacity to see. All requests from GPs for x-rays and ultrasound and other examinations should be made using the electronic referrals tool that GPs have on their computers. This tool helps the GP to know whether a particular imaging request is likely to be the right one. Sometimes it will advise him/her that other tests are needed before/or/ instead of an x-ray or ultrasound, or CT/MRI. Once the referral is received by the hospital, a priority rating is attached to that referral. The most urgent cases get seen first and more routine cases will wait longer. Referrals where a requested imaging exam has little chance of contributing to the diagnosis will not be done at all. In this latter case, the referring doctor will receive a letter suggesting an alternative (better) pathway to advance the diagnosis in that patient.

Radiology does have a role to play in providing reassurance that a particular disease is not present. However, where the chance of a patient having that disease is very small, this role for radiology must take second place to the diagnostic role in the public hospital, where resources are very limited. The private sector radiology service has the capacity provide the reassurance role for a fee.

Once the referral from your general practitioner is accepted by us we will write to you giving you an appointment time and date. These appointments are scarce.  If you do receive one, please turn up on the day because, if you do not turn up, you will deprive another patient of this valuable appointment.

When you come please bring with you:

1.       Any letters or reports from your doctor or other hospital.
2.       Any previous ultrasound, X-Rays, CT or MRI films and reports.
3.       All medicines you are taking including herbal and natural remedies.
4.       Your pharmaceutical entitlement card.
5.       Your ACC number, if you have one.
 

If you have an urgent orthopaedic condition such as a fracture or a bone infection, your doctor will send you to the Emergency Department at Auckland City Hospital and the doctors there will arrange x-rays or scans on the same day.

If you have a condition that was caused by an accident, you can get x-rays and scans done in the private sector and most of this cost will be paid for by the Accident Compensation Corporation. You will often receive swifter attention under the cover of the Accident Compensation Corporation in the private sector. 

Hours

Greenlane Clinical Centre

Mon – Fri 7:30 AM – 4:30 PM

The best times to visit are 07:30-09:30 and 14:30-16:30 as these are the least busy hours at GCC.

Public Holidays: Closed Good Friday (18 Apr), Easter Sunday (20 Apr), Easter Monday (21 Apr), ANZAC Day (25 Apr), King's Birthday (2 Jun), Matariki (20 Jun), Labour Day (27 Oct), Auckland Anniversary (26 Jan), Waitangi Day (6 Feb).

Starship Child Health, Central Auckland

8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.

Mon – Fri 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Auckland City Hospital

7:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Mon – Fri 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Procedures / Treatments

Breast imaging (mammogram with tomography, breast ultrasound, MRI)
Breast screen (mammogram)
Computed tomography (CT)
CT calcium score
CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy)
Fluoroscopy
Image guided injections
Interventional radiology
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
PET/ CT scan
Radionuclide scanning
Ultrasound
Women’s imaging
X-ray

Public Transport

Please visit the Auckland Transport Website to plan your journey:

Auckland Transport

Get directions

Parking

Parking is difficult and often all the parking spaces are taken. You will have to pay a fee to park your car. Please consider taking a bus to Greenlane Hospital Radiology Department. Please visit Auckland Transport to plan your journey.

Website

www.adhb.health.nz/

https://healthpoint.co.nz./public/radiology/radiology-auckland-te-toka-tumai/