Lengthy wait times for tests ‘distressing’

In the last 12 months Pathlab had 29 staff transfer, retire or leave for other positions. Photo / John Borren, Sun Media

People are having to wait over an hour for tests because of significant staff shortages at pathology services in Tauranga.

The Greerton, Mount Maunganui and Ōtūmoetai Pathlab clinics have closed and the Te Puke and Katikati sites have reduced hours because of the shortages.

Pathlab says it lost 29 staff in a year, partly due to pandemic fatigue, but it has new staff coming and hopes to reopen the closed clinics within the next few months.

Paula Bilbe has needed weekly blood tests since June last year and said the delays have increased during that time.

“It’s nothing unusual to wait up to 1 hour 20 mins for a test that takes less than 10 minutes,” said Bilbe.

She lives two minutes away from the Ōtūmoetai clinic that closed in November 2021, which was “much easier” to fit into her busy schedule.

Bilbe now has to choose between the clinic on 2nd Ave, Bethlehem or at the Tauranga Hospital.

“Regardless of which branch I choose, the wait is never less than 20 mins.

“The max time I have had to wait was 1 hour 20 mins, believe me I wasn’t the only annoyed and frustrated person wasting my valuable time.”

She has tried going to the branches at different times of the day but said it “makes little if any difference on time spent waiting”.

“It’s not ok, for a city the size of Tauranga, we need more locations. It’s time to staff the Ōtūmoetai and Greerton branches again”.

Bilbe applauded the staff at the clinics who were “always busy rushing about trying to get the numbers through and apologising for the wait”.

Larissa Allen has had weekly blood tests for the past 13 weeks because she is undergoing chemotherapy.

She agreed the staff worked “really hard” and did “an amazing job”.

Wait times of 1 hour 20 at Pathlabs in Tauranga are “nothing unusual” according to a regular user. Photo / John Borren, Sun Media.

A regular user of the Pāpāmoa Pathlab, Allen said the wait times ranged from 20 minutes to an hour and her longest wait was just over an hour.

“I notice a lot of people get frustrated, but it is what it is. People just have to have patience.”

Asked if she was worried about being in a busy wait room whilst being immunocompromised Allen replied: “No, that didn’t even cross my mind”.

For a Te Puke resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, it wasn’t just time but the extra cost of having to travel to Pāpāmoa for tests because the Te Puke clinic was only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

She needed tests two to three times a week for most of last year.

“I live on a Supported Living benefit due to physical disabilities and the extra petrol costs to travel further for blood tests meant that sometimes I didn’t go as often as I was supposed to as I couldn’t afford the extra petrol.”

“[As] a regular user of Pathlab services I have been very distressed with the service and lack of communication clients have received over the last 2 years.”

Pathlab chief executive officer Dianne McQueen said laboratories had experienced workforce shortages in recent times and there was both a national and global shortage of phlebotomists, (those trained to take blood).

“The Covid-19 pandemic further impacted our business through employee sickness and resignations, primarily due to fatigue, which has meant we have had to redistribute our team to the more densely populated areas we service.”

Currently, there were 19 phlebotomists and 10 receptionists or assistants at the six Pathlabs in the Western Bay of Plenty, she said.

“In the last 12 months, we have had 29 staff transfer, retire or leave for other positions,” McQueen said.

Nine fully trained phlebotomists were needed to reopen the closed collection sites, she said.

“Recruitment of staff for these positions has been a key focus for over two years. “We have broadened our advertising to include Facebook, word of mouth via PHOs (primary health organisations) and our staff, which has yielded good responses.”

Pathlab had recruited 26 staff and had another four starting this week and each month thereafter, said McQueen.

Staff required a minimum of three months of training and Pathlab made changes to its training programmes to ensure new staff were ready to work without supervision after three months, she said.

The hope was to have the closed clinics reopen within the next two to three months, said the chief executive.

“We are truly sorry for those that are experiencing the excessive wait times, as seen across all healthcare in New Zealand.

“Unfortunately, patient numbers day-to day vary hugely, so it is very difficult to plan ahead for those extra busy days.”

- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air