The Auckland DHB say that Labtests has improved significantly over the past few months. The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia had come in to assess areas of concern, the health board itself had instigated intensive monitoring and there had been a “radical reduction” in complaints about the service, both from the public and the [...]

Just to keep the “Evil Labtests” story ticking over (before the next big story where the HDC tells you it has received 20,000 complaints about labtests – all from a little old lady in Palmerston North), the Herald tells us about a wrong result. And how it made a patient worried. Not dead, just worried. [...]

The sad story of the death of diabetic Mrs. Maureen Pineki is the subject of an even sadder report released by the Auckland DHB today. The reason it is sad is because it comes to almost the entirely wrong conclusions about this poor lady’s death. The report urges: RECOMMENDATIONS LABTESTS: Review systems to ensure timely [...]

Latest update on the game of Auckland pathology football is Doctors 4, Labtests 0 as the DHB , supposedly playing for Labtests, scores an own goal. Last night, Counties Manukau DHB chairman, Professor Gregor Coster, said: “They led us to believe they had a quality and safety system in place from the outset. “It proved [...]

In the game of Laboratory Test Chicken that has been going on recently, the Auckland DHBs have just folded their hand (to mix a metaphor) and are now the clear losers. All the “savings” promised by this move are now totally lost. Labtests have been pushed into providing a much more comprehensive service than they [...]

Apparently, Auckland DHB is now going to play an expensive game of Chicken with Labtests. The Herald reports that “Auckland’s district health boards are considering bringing Diagnostic Medlab back into the provision of community laboratory services because of persisting problems with the newcomer Labtests”. This is silly. If Labtests are providing an inadequate service, they [...]

I know that some of my readers consider I have gone off the deep end because of my support for the “evil” Labtests. I defend myself in the comments of “Doctors 1, Labtests 0″ Although it may seem that way, I don’t carry a torch for Labtests and thought that the move to Labtests was [...]

One month into the contract that is the score so far. The doctors, ably, if pointlessly, abetted by DML, have scored a scalp in the form of the CEO of Labtests, Ulf Lindskog. In addition, they seems to have managed to bully the DHBs into appointing their own team to oversee quality assurance. The first [...]

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 [...]

Well the Saturday Herald is splattered with so many hysterical articles about the evils of Labtests that it almost seems they have been bought out by DML. The articles range from the idiotic to the actually concerning (if true). There is the sad tale of the GP who wants to leave Auckland because Labtests is [...]