KEY POINTS:
Public consultation on the future of Auckland's community laboratory service has found broad opposition to making private specialists' patients pay for their own tests.
The consultation process closes on November 14. The contract with the region's community laboratory test provider could be altered to make private specialists' patients pay if Auckland's three district health boards proceed with the controversial idea.
The Government has permitted it to happen in several areas, including Wellington, but there is no national policy.
The tests mainly cost $10 to $500, although some are up to $2000.
Opponents of the move say it would push up insurance premiums and lengthen public hospital waiting lists as patients switched from private to public care.
The Auckland boards' laboratory project manager, Tim Wood, said tests for private specialists' patients cost the boards around $5 million out of the $74 million annual contract.
It was not clear how much the boards might save if the patients had to pay instead of taxpayers.
"If it was implemented, a lot would depend on whether there was a change of behaviour by GPs doing more testing before people went to private specialist appointments or not."
Most of the more than 30 public meetings and discussions with primary health organisations and GPs had been held and further information was gathered from several "focus-group" research sessions. Attendances at the public meetings ranged from one or two people to more than 40.
More than 1500 submissions had been made through the health boards' websites, 50 more on paper, and a number of letters had been received. Several thousand emails had been sent in response to health insurer Southern Cross' campaign urging opposition to charging private specialists' patients.
Mr Wood said the written submissions would not be analysed until after November 14, but the themes from the focus groups were quite similar to those from the consultation meetings.
Most people opposed private specialists' patients being charged for tests, although some supported it, Mr Wood said.
The leading issue at public meetings was the planned switch of provider company - from Diagnostic Medlab to Healthscope-owned Labtests Auckland.
"At the meetings I was at, the people have been mainly saying DML provides a good service, so why was that decision made."
The change was overturned by the High Court, but is now under way again after an Appeal Court ruling, although DML has applied to the Supreme Court for a second appeal.
Mr Wood said other concerns at focus groups were the location of collection centres and hours of opening.
