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Lack of appointments in imaging

Posted By Zionsking

"Lack of appointments in imaging"

About: Swan Hill District Hospital

(as a service user),

My spouse underwent surgery recently in Melbourne, and we required a specific imaging test the following week. Unfortunately, we were unable to schedule it due to staffing shortages, and the wait for an appointment was several weeks out. It’s frustrating that the scheduling system only opens two weeks in advance. In my opinion, this policy is deeply inadequate, especially for essential procedures like pregnancy scans, where timely appointments are critical. The lack of available options in Bendigo and Kerang pushes us to Melbourne, despite having a capable hospital nearby.

After spending an hour in the car calling around, I was relieved when the lady at the imaging counter managed to fit us in. However, I can’t help but feel for those who aren’t able to travel or cannot afford the expenses given the current economic situation. I believe this is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed promptly.

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Responses

Response from Chloe Keogh, Interim CEO, Executive Offices, Swan Hill District Health last month
Chloe Keogh
Interim CEO, Executive Offices,
Swan Hill District Health

Overall responsibility for the running of the health service, reports to the Board of Management. Interim for 7 months while they recruit permanently to the CEO role.

Submitted on 17/09/2025 at 11:03 AM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 4:46 PM

picture of Chloe Keogh

Dear Zionsking,

Thank you for providing you feedback and details of your experience in our radiology department and your challenges with arranging a post surgical imaging appointment. We are currently experiencing a lot of challenges in this area, which you observed first hand. Imaging staff are working long days and we cannot meet the communities demand for these services. We are trying to reduce our reliance on locum and agency staff but there is a critical shortage of radiology staff across regional areas, so this is such a challenge.

I would love to say that we have a solution that we are working on, however it is not so simple. We have ads out to recruit staff, we are working with our team that are here to try and support them to be able to come to work and do the work they are trained to do. Each day in this area we balance a combination of patients from the community needing radiology, from the GP clinic, from the wards, from the Emergency Department, and then after hours the staff come in to do emergencies. It is certainly a dilemma managing everyone's needs.

I am so sorry that you had such a difficult experience in our radiology department, I am really pleased that there was an opening through a cancellation and this supported getting your spouses imaging attended locally.

Again, thank you for taking the time to articulate what we know is currently an issue. We will keep on working through this, and I will come back with an update when we have a more tangible solution.

Kind Regards

Chloe

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