Health professionals plan protest over lab contract

Doctors, nurses and other health professionals have asked the public to join them in a demonstration on Saturday over a decision which they say puts public health at risk.

The protest march along Queen Street in Auckland follows a decision by local health boards to dump Auckland medical laboratory Diagnostic Medlab (DML) as the area's main medical laboratory.

A $560 million, eight-year contract has been awarded to a consortium led by Healthscope Ltd, Australia's second-largest private hospital operator.

Protest organisers said more than 50,000 people had signed a petition calling for the Auckland, Counties-Manukau and Waitemata district health boards (DHBs) to urgently review their decision.

Petition founder Matt Crockett said the rally was the inevitable outcome of a process lacking proper consultation.

"The DHBs have refused to consult or listen to us. The existing system is held in high regard by all the stakeholders.

"It is a benchmark for laboratories in the South Pacific region.

"How can a responsible governing board ignore all this in awarding the contract to a start-up consortium on the basis of paper savings."

However, the boards said the process to award the contract was thorough and fair.

Auckland District Health Board chief executive Garry Smith said Medlab's decision to ask the High Court for a judicial review of the process was disappointing.

He said the contract decision was not made lightly but Medlab did not measure up against Labtests Auckland in "a very thorough" tender process.

"DML is a commercial company that is now trying to resuscitate a contract it failed to win."

He said the $120m saved over eight years was the equivalent of 90 hip operations every month, or 470 additional heart bypass operations every year.

- NZPA