KEY POINTS:
The medical laboratory which lost a multi-million dollar contract with three Auckland district health boards, says the row may not be over.
Diagnostic Medlab (DML) lost its legal row earlier this month when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Australian-based Lab Tests over an eight-year contract for medical laboratory testing worth $560 million.
Three Auckland district health boards, Auckland, Waitemata and Counties Manukau, awarded the contract to Lab Tests but that began a legal row with current provider Diagnostic Medlab which only ended with the Supreme Court ruling.
The boards and Lab Tests were meeting today to finalise the transition of the contract.
However, DML chief executive Dr Arthur Morris said Lab Tests had not recruited many staff and only one DML staff member had left to go to Lab Tests.
He said DML had 300 staff at its laboratory and Lab Test would need at least that many to provide a similar service.
"They have got to get a collection network and they have got to recruit a workforce. If they have problems with that, the last word may not be finished."
Dr Morris said DML still had an interim contract with the health boards and the contract would continue to roll over "until someone gives notice."
He said the health boards had yet to tell DML when Lab Tests would take over the new contract.
"They (Lab Tests) will need a work force to be able to do that."
He said the 300 laboratory staff did not include the staff needed for the collection centres. DML runs 80 collection centres.
"They have already said they are going to have significantly fewer in collections and that is the bone of contention with primary health care providers who say that is not going to be enough and we would agree with that," Dr Morris said.
A Lab Tests spokesman said today it was meeting deadlines and would be ready to take over the contract in August.
Lab Tests said it would bring the latest pathology technology to the contract and it could process more than 7000 patient samples a day.
- NZPA
