Medical Association slams Labtests' service

Photo / Greg Bowker

The Medical Association says Auckland's new community laboratory service is unacceptable and the Government must take action.

Chairman Dr Peter Foley said yesterday that Auckland doctors were used to a high standard of community laboratory service and were extremely frustrated at problems following the change, completed on Monday, to Labtests.

But Labtests says it is resolving teething problems as they arise.

Under a new contract - worth about $70 million a year - with the region's three district health boards, Labtests has taken over community pathology from Diagnostic Medlab.

"The level of service reported to the NZMA is unacceptable in many respects, resulting in a number of patients not receiving appropriate care when they need it," Dr Foley said.

The fact that the Waitemata primary health organisation Procare Network North had committed extra funding to pay GP clinics to take patients' blood samples showed the "despair" doctors felt, he said.

Health boards pay Labtests to take blood samples, but Procare North has offered to pay its clinics to do it for several weeks to reduce the pressure on Labtests collection centres.

Dr Foley said the association had previously warned that the change in laboratory companies carried big risks that could jeopardise services.

"Sadly, our fears are being realised."

He said Health Minister Tony Ryall should establish an independent review to monitor the situation.

Mr Ryall said he had received assurances from the chairmen of the three health boards that the issues were being addressed. They were monitoring Labtests' performance and taking action as necessary.

"I have expressed my strong expectation to the three DHBs that they manage the lab transition safely and effectively."

GPs are concerned about waiting times for patients, access to pathologists to discuss test results, and the time it takes to get some results.

Labtests chief executive Ulf Lindskog implied the Medical Association may have been influenced by a conflict of interest, as its deputy chairman is Dr Paul Ockelford, a clinical haematologist at Diagnostic Medlab.

"I would be concerned if these things are raised out of consideration of particular board members' commercial interests," he said.

But Dr Foley rejected this suggestion, saying he prepared his statement without any involvement from Dr Ockelford.

The association had always avoided stating a preference for either company, and was now criticising only the failings of the transition process.

Mr Lindskog said that unless the association could give details of specific complaints, "these issues would have to be considered noise".

The transition was going well, he said. Labtests' patients were not experiencing long delays; on average they had to wait between 20 and 30 minutes.

Turnaround times for test results were not causing any problems and GPs' access to clinical staff to discuss results had improved after changes to the Labtests call centre this week.