Fears lab plans bad for patients

Plans to use a private provider for laboratory services at Wairarapa Hospital and other hospitals in the Wellington region could lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment, medical workers' unions warn.

Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast district health boards (DHBs) want to outsource lab services to save money, and put out a call for interest in August. They are considering a partnering arrangement with a private company or using a single private laboratory provider.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) urged the DHBs to review the plan. It said private companies wanted a return on investment, which could interfere with the way hospitals were run.

Executive director Ian Powell said members were concerned about services being disrupted if integrated.

Delays could occur in diagnosis of cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases, there could be transfusion risks, bed blockages when lab results were delayed, and variations in the quality of lab results and reporting.

He said the hospitals' own assessment of lab services found only minor issues: "Privatising the laboratories on the type of assumptions and faulty thinking we're seeing would be like taking your car to the wrecker because it has a broken headlight."

New Zealand Medical Association chairman Mark Peterson said it was understood the DHBs were looking to cut costs.

"[But] this issue is too important to risk the disruption and challenges that would inevitably follow a merger or transition of these services to a private provider," he said.

"As ASMS points out, current laboratory services are not 'broke' and do not need 'fixing', but require only fine-tuning."

He said a similar move at Mid Central DHB hadn't resulted in major savings and it had taken years to establish a shared workforce culture.

The DHBs' Laboratory Services Strategy shows services in the region are working reasonably well but certain services need to be "fine tuned" to improve efficiency.

Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs chief executive Graham Dyer told Radio NZ they were in the middle of a commercial process and it would be inappropriate to discuss it.

DHBs are due to make a decision on a provider next month.