"Ultrasound vs X-RAY for possible Hip Dysplasia"

After attending a child health visit for some vaccines through Population Health, a child health nurse flagged mychild has uneven thigh creases and would benefit from an ultrasound. 

After having to go to Perth for a few weeks for my other child to have surgery I sent through the referral to Medical Imaging who advised that there were no current appointments and that they would be in touch.

I flagged that we had an existing Paed referral and was hoping we could get the ultrasound prior to this appointment so that the Paed would be able to review the ultrasound and make plans. I requested to go on a cancellation list in hopes of getting a last minute appointment.Unfortunately this wasn't able to happen and I had to cancel the Paed appointment.

I had attempted to call again to see if there were any other cancellation appointments only to be told no and they would contact me with an appointment. After a string of sickness between two children and cyclone I received an appointment for another 4 weeks time. 

I saw my GP for an unrelated illness and mentioned that we still hadn't had the ultrasound yet. She advised my child would now need an X-RAY as they had just turned 6 months old ( 9 days prior). By the time the ultrasound appointment was booked for, my child would be 7 months old. 

I received a call from Chris who would be performing the X-Ray and he spent some time explaining to me this morning that the preference is ultrasound to prevent unnecessary radiation to the child as often they come back clear. He asked me about my Childs development (my child is crawling at 6 months and is able to stand equal on both legs, however there is a clickiness in their hips that I have recently noticed). From this discussion Chris's preference is that my child now has a Paediatrician appointment to review my child and make a decision on if the X-RAY is required. I am grateful to Chris for taking the time to discuss this with me however I wish that I had received this call 9 days ago prior to my child turning 6 months and I could have avoided this situation. I'm surprised that I was booked for an ultrasound when my child would have been 7 months old. 

My hope is that from this there can be a better process for identifying possible hip dysplasia, smoother process for booking in at medical imaging and better education for the parents. Is it possible that when a child health nurse flags this in the clinic that it can generate a referral for medical imaging or a paediatrician who can sign off on the request. From there it would be amazing if Medical Imaging was able to book the appointment prior to the child turning 6 months old. This would save a bit of backwards and forwards with GPs and hopefully streamline the process and prevent unnecessary radiation for children.

Again I am grateful to Chris for taking the time to discuss this with me and escalate his concerns both to me as well as within the hospital.