Labtests warned: Improve, or else

Labtests took over the contract for testing blood and other samples for the Auckland, Waitemata and Counties-Manukau DHBs from Diagnostic Medlab. Photo / Dean Purcell

An Auckland health boss says the health boards can terminate their contract with Labtests if they don't get up to scratch, but he expects there won't be a need.

The Auckland Region District Health Boards yesterday sent their own senior staff into Labtests to take over control of safety and quality assurance following persistent criticism.

Labtests has also apologised for its failings and replaced the Auckland chief executive, Ulf Lindskog, with Paul Waterson, the chief operating officer for pathology at Healthscope, the Australian owner of Labtests.

Labtests has in the past month taken charge of the contract for testing blood and other samples for the Auckland, Waitemata and Counties-Manukau district health boards.

It won the eight year, $560 million dollar contract following a bitter battle with incumbents Diagnostic Medlab.

ARDHB chairman Pat Snedden said today there had been clear feedback from the community and clinical community that the service was not up to it as yet.

He told a media conference the DHB troubleshooters were working with Labtests staff to ensure the service was delivered as specified under the contract.

"Things like urgent results getting to the right people at the right time will be delivered.

'Things like the right people getting the results will be delivered, things like the turnaround times and ... things like the issues that the public are telling us about the collection centres will be remedied.

"They need immediate attention and the company recognises that."

Mr Snedden said the DHBs had a number of things they could do if Labtests didn't do their job.

"There are 30 day remedies, 30 day notice in order to remedy something that is not sufficiently good enough in the process.

"If that doesn't happen then there are additional 30 day remedies which require termination of contract if required.

"We don't see at this point we're going to get there, but we're very clear that the company needs to lift its act and deliver what the public expects."

Mr Snedden said the troubleshooters would be reporting back on a regular basis and he expected action well within 30 days.

"After the first day a verdict is not available to us right now, but in fact this will happen very quickly and we will see very clearly what needs to happen, and we will be informed as boards to know the capacity of the company to do the thing they're contracted with us to do.

"My intention is the company actually delivers the contract. That's their intention."

Mr Snedden said DHBs didn't specifically ask for Mr Lindskog to be replaced but had made it clear that issues about leadership needed to be addressed.

"We were not prescriptive about that but we were quite clear that in order for confidence to be maintained in this process, that they needed to show that their leadership was listening to what happened.

"We're happy with what Labtests did yesterday and we're pleased that they've got the leadership they've got in place at the moment."

He said any more money needed to fix any problems would come from Labtests and not DHBs.

"There is no additional impost of any sort whatsoever on any of the moves we're taking here.

"All the intervention we've taken with Labtests is a matter that they're paying for. There is no additional cost to the taxpayer around this process.

"If Labtests have to provide more staff to do what they need to do, they'll pay for it."