The Pathlab clinic in Greerton. Photo / Alex Cairns
Two pathology clinics in and near Tauranga have had temporary closures because of staff shortages.
Pathlab says staff sickness forced closures at its Te Puke and Ōtūmoetai collection facilities.
The Te Puke clinic has been closed for six days in the past month and Ōtūmoetai has been closed four times. Both clinics have been closed for one day this week.
Pathlab chief executive Dianne McQueen said the decision to close collection facilities was difficult and not taken lightly.
The decision was made at 6.30am after staff advised they couldn’t work because of illness, she said. Closures occurred once all other options were exhausted, McQueen said.
The wellbeing of phlebotomists (those trained to take blood) and the health of patients was also taken into consideration, she said.
All clinicians were told about the closures before 7.30am that day so they could advise patients, said McQueen.
The closures were also communicated through the Pathlab website, social media and Google. The website also included details and opening times of the other Pathlab facilities in the area people could use as an alternative, McQueen said.
The nearest collection site to Te Puke is Pāpāmoa, which McQueen said was usually only a 17-minute drive away.
Alternative sites for Ōtūmoetai were in Bethlehem and Second Avenue in Tauranga, which were both a 10-minute drive away.
”To minimise disruption to the service and ensure that we have continuity of service, we continue in our efforts with ongoing recruitment to address the ongoing staff shortages and to bolster our team.”
Pathlab was recruiting eight full-time employees for patient services, she said.
The temporary closures come after some clinics were closed for over a year because of staff shortages.
Between 2022 and 2023, 29 staff transferred, retired or left Pathlab for other positions, McQueen said.
The Ōtūmoetai clinic closed in November 2021 and reopened last year.
The Greerton site was closed from April 2022 for a year and the Mount Maunganui facility was closed for 10 months from September 2022.
Other sites operated on reduced hours.
During this time some patients were waiting over an hour for tests at Pathlab clinics.
Ōtūmoetai resident Paula Bilbe previously told Local Democracy Reporting it was “nothing unusual” to wait an hour and 20 minutes for a test.
Pathlab recruited more than 30 staff in order to reopen the clinics.
As of Wednesday all Pathlab sites are open with Ōtūmoetai closing early.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora provides funding for laboratory testing services.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
It comes after case numbers spiked in May, June, July and again in September.