Patients give Labtests the thumbs-up on go-live day

A pregnant Jackie-Lee Robson has a routine blood test at Labtests' new rooms in Manurewa. Photo / Greg Bowker

No sooner had Auckland's new laboratory service opened for business at 7am yesterday than patients were in the door for their blood tests.

Some teething troubles were reported last night, but no major problems, after day one of the takeover by Labtests in Counties Manukau, to be followed in coming weeks by central Auckland and Waitemata.

"From 7am we had the first patients waiting at the door," said the company's chief executive, Ulf Lindskog.

Many of Labtests' collection centres open at 7am - 30 minutes to an hour earlier than those of Diagnostic Medlab, which lost the regional contract for community laboratory testing.

The Herald visited Labtests' collection centre among the Great South Rd shops in Manurewa yesterday. It is next door to a DML centre, which remains open for patients who need tests for insurance, immigration applications and other purposes not covered by the community laboratory contract, worth around $70 million a year. At mid-afternoon, about 10 people were waiting for blood samples to be taken.

"Just relax your arm, sweetie," Labtests phlebotomist Stella Tichborne-Hambrook told patient Sok Chea Chor, 59. Mr Chor has a blood test every two months to monitor an iron deficiency.

When asked for his opinion of the new service, he said: "It's good, because I feel very comfortable here."

Another patient, Jackie-Lee Robson, 32, of Manurewa, who is pregnant and had a blood test related to that, was similarly impressed by Labtests. "It's brilliant."

Mr Lindskog said he was pleased with the first day of operation of the Labtests network and its central laboratory in Mt Wellington, which cost about $40 million to set up.

"Overall it's looking really good. All systems are working well."

Otara GP Harley Aish, chairman of the Procare Network Manukau primary health organisation, said the transition seemed to be going well, with only minor irritations.

"We've had results coming through electronically, which is good."

GPs had been concerned that results of blood tests they had ordered for their patients might not arrive on their clinics' computers.

Dr Aish had lost the ability to call up a graph displaying both a patient's latest and earlier results, although he expected this could be rectified.

And tear-off pads listing the addresses of Labtests' collection centres had not arrived, necessitating repeated explanations to patients of where to have their tests done.