Both patients caught up in the errors had the same first name, and surnames weren’t checked - even though Sarah said she was asked for her driver’s licence three times and provided it at least twice.
“I expressed how what was occurring was not good enough,” Sarah told the Herald. “I’ve put in a complaint and I’m not happy with the response.”
‘I wanted to get out of there’
Sarah’s formal complaint to the Anatomical Pathology Service said, “This whole incident has had a huge impact on me. I’m not sure I can fully express how distressing it is.”
It explained that she had recently been through breast cancer, which had taken a toll on her.
“Being of Māori descent, it is really important to me to have my body sample returned so I can bury it with my ancestors,” she said. “Culturally, this is unacceptable.”
The letter also said how distressed she was to have had the second woman’s name and private medical details revealed to her.
She said she was now wondering if an earlier body sample that was returned to her in 2025 and buried on the whānau urupā with her ancestors, was even hers.
“I tried to express how culturally insensitive this incident was but was unable to finish my sentence because of how upset I was,” Sarah wrote.
“I can’t even fully trust the sample returned to me on the date of the incident is mine. It has made me question if an incident like this has occurred previously and gone unnoticed.”
I just wanted what I hoped was my body part and to get out of there
Sarah told the Herald a staff member offered her a Māori liaison specialist to talk to, but she declined because she no longer trusted APS.
“I tried to express ... how hard it had been for me to even come to APS that day to pick up my body part.
“[They] offered to call someone or to give me some time. I said I just wanted what I hoped was my body part and to get out of there,” Sarah’s complaint letter said.
‘Only first names were checked’
Health New Zealand told the Herald it accepts the claims in Sarah’s letter.
Director of clinical support services Ian Costello replied to her in February, offering “sincere regret and apologies”.
He confirmed that only first names had been checked, which shouldn’t have occurred, and that new procedures have now been introduced to prevent it from happening again.
“The tissue management team are mindful that the handling and return of human tissue is of particular cultural importance within te ao Māori” he wrote.
“I acknowledge the impact this event has had for you and regret that your experience did not align with the respect, care and dignity our service aims to provide. The tissue management team have been trained to recognise human tissue as taonga and staff have been reminded they are required to uphold manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, and rangatiratanga through correct patient identification, respectful handling of tissue, clear and sensitive communication and by ensuring tissue is returned only to the correct patient.
“We have no record or knowledge that an incident of this nature has previously occurred at Anatomic Pathology Service,” the letter said.
Costello also confirmed the second patient had been advised of the incident.
Health New Zealand said it was not able to answer follow-up questions from the Herald about what exactly the second patient was told.
‘We’d expect them to notify us’
Health New Zealand would also not tell the Herald whether it had notified the Privacy Commissioner of its breach - but said it had “complied fully with its obligations under the Privacy Act in respect of this matter”.
Under the Privacy Act 2020, if an organisation has a privacy breach that has - or could - cause anyone serious harm, they must notify the Privacy Commissioner - and any affected people.
The office of the Privacy Commissioner told the Herald that HNZ had not alerted it to the incident.
“We would expect an agency that has given someone the wrong tissue sample – that is identified by name - to notify us," a spokesperson said.
“Tissue samples are sensitive health information. For some cultures, for example, Māori, those samples may also have tikanga (customary practices and protocols) associated with them and be considered taonga or tapu.
“New Zealanders rightly expect any agency collecting, holding, using or storing their sensitive health information to maintain high standards of privacy and data protection.
“Failure to take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal information against loss, misuse or disclosure is a breach of the Privacy Act.”
*Not her real name.
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