Legal fight over Medlab blood test contract

By KATHERINE HOBY
Legal action is being taken against the Bay's district health board over the tendering process for the region's blood testing contract - and local GPs are also considering joining in.
A judicial review is being pursued over the laboratory tendering process which was won by Medlab BOP in February this year.
Their rivals, a sister company of Medlab Hamilton, missed out on the contract and will challenge it in court.
The move comes one month after the Auckland High Court scrapped that region's $560 million medical testing contract awarded to Labtests Auckland.
"The key findings in the Auckland case were poor processes and a lack of consultation with GPs. We are concerned that these problems are also reflected in the Bay of Plenty," Medlab Hamilton's general manager Steve Soufflot said.
He said their legal team had advised them the DHB failed in a number of areas which resulted in the process being unfair, which was likely to lead to the possibility of diminishing of health outcomes for local people.
"This is going to cost a lot of money and we are serious about it."
Meanwhile, the Western Bay's Primary Health Organisation (PHO) which represents most of the city's GPs, has said the action was "not surprising".
Bay GPs have already sounded a warning that serious medical conditions could go undiagnosed after Medlab BOP introduced new fees from April 1. Under the new regime patients who are healthy but want blood tests done to pick up problems early on have to pay for those tests themselves.
"I'm not surprised it's happened given the reservations about the contracting process the DHB used and the service reality that has been in place since April 1," Western Bay PHO chief executive officer Roger Taylor said.
He confirmed the PHO had been asked to consider joining the judicial review. It had not formally considered that yet but would discuss the situation at a board meeting on Tuesday.
"It is true the PHO holds many reservations about patient safety and entitlements to services since April 1," Mr Taylor said.
"The PHO has an obligation to protect the interests of its enrolled population particularly on clinical safety and access to services."
Mr Taylor stressed the PHO wanted to find a way to work positively with the DHB on what it considered "very serious issues".
If that did not happen, it would then consider its options.
"We will consider our choices if the DHB does not recognise our concerns as significant."
Mr Taylor said it was important all parties recognised that medicine was as much about maintaining wellness as about positively responding to sickness.
The DHB has already said the new Medlab BOP system was fair because health dollars should be used to treat sick people, not those who were well.
The PHO represents the interests of GPs at 26 practices and 130,000 registered patients.
Bay of Plenty DHB chief executive Phil Cammish said he was unable to comment on the latest developments as the matter was before the courts.