Penultimatum
ADHB has succumbed to all the bad publicity surrounding Labtests and, in an effort to look tough, has delivered an “ultimatum” – at least according to the Sunday Star Times. Excuse me while attempt to feign interest…
This is not news, nor is it an ultimatum. This is simply the contract between Labtests and the DHBs being reiterated. There are performance measures built into the service contract which Labtests must provide. There is no threat, merely the statement of the obvious. Labtests has always known that it must perform or face penalties. As long as these penalties are more than a slap on the wrist with a wet bus-ticket, Labtests will make every effort to meet the standards required.
Of course, these are the standards of the DHBs; not necessarily the same thing as the standards of the GPs. I expect GPs will continue to complain about the service, even if Labtest are meeting the set standard of service.
In the meantime DML continues to breath down the neck of Labtests, trying to prove malfeasance. Their attitude becomes more childish every day:
“Last week, a Labtests spokeswoman told the Star-Times that staff had observed a number of dubious actions by DML. In an email, the spokeswoman alleged patients had been video-recorded outside collection centres by DML staff; DML staff had been sitting in collection centres to delay handover; DML staff had sat in Labtests collection centre waiting rooms taking notes and DML staff had parked a truck in the exit of a Labtests collection centre, preventing patients from leaving the carpark for over an hour. She also alleged a mobile phlebotomist had been followed on a round by a DML car.
“DML director of clinical services Paul Ockelford said: “We have always played this game quite ethically. Should we have gone out and done the filming? Maybe not, but it was done out of sheer exasperation.”
“He said DML had been trying to disprove assertions by DHBs that all was well with the new Labtests service.
“He said DML cars had been tailed by Labtests staff. Of the truck, he said: “Oh boo hoo. That happened in Colmar Rd when we were shifting our stuff out. It was a moving truck, because we were shifting. And there was another entrance.””
I wonder if Dr. Ockelford knows he comes across here as a complete ass…
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Sep 14 09 2:16 pm
Paul was ever thus, what a tosser. The Ockelford – Morris double act is truly embarassing to witness. Obviously an adult who signs his name with a smiley lacks any gravitas, but “boo hoo”? WTF? These guys have completely lost sight of professional and ethical obligations to their patients, and have made the patients pawns in a pitiful attempt to denigrate Labtests. Own goal, chaps.
Sep 14 09 4:31 pm
It seems to me that this case has reached what I will call the “Palin Point” – the point where rumour/complaints/bad press are so numerous that (in spite of their having almost no real grounds) people start to think something is seriously wrong.
scrubone´s last blog ..Taking a life to… well, what?
Sep 14 09 7:19 pm
DML’s behaviour has been disgusting, but the Government’s response has been even more outrageous. A decent bit of detective work by the Fourth Estate would have been good – but oh, isn’t it much easier to take the crap fed to them by Hooton, Bradbury, Ockelford & Co and just print that? The whole thing is a bloody disgrace.
Sep 14 09 8:41 pm
Interesting now that the Labtest CEO has taken one for the team. This means that Labtests now mean business and DML should be concerned.
They will no doubt now be flying in their crack team of “fixit” men and women from Australia and end DML completely in NZ by calling for an inquiry themselves which will root out all the intel of what DML have done to sabotage the handover from the day they lost the contract. And what medical “professionals” have assisted in holding the handover to ransom for their own gain.
Sep 14 09 10:24 pm
Pity Labtests didn’t mean business when they tendered.
I’m not in Auckland, so I don’t care, but failure to immediately fix accurate communication of results in a timely fashion would imply there are some serious underlying quality/resource issues in their laboratory. Shonky sounds appropriate.
I still think the ADHB board should resign, along with their managers who oversaw this fiasco. What we are now seeing is multiple layers of undies being worn to try and protect behinds that should have been seriously kicked months ago.
Expect the minders on both sides to quickly hose down negative publicity and whiners, with swarms of lawyers arriving quicker than sharks to blood. It’s now in the interest of both parties to minimise negative publicity, and offer soothing comments in public.
Regardless of whether DML managers are plonkers, the replacement entity’s managers haven’t appeared much better. The Health Boards appear to have used a generic tender process ( rubbish disposal? ), with unsurprising consequences.
I suppose it’s one way to acquires bonuses for reduced waiting times, scare away, or kill, the patients.