Patience for Labtests running out

It seems rather ironic that an anagram of ‘Labtests’ – the name of Auckland’s new community pathology services provider – is ‘Last Bets’.

The controversy surrounding the awarding of the multi-million dollar contract, and problems arising following the transition from former incumbent Diagnostic MedLab, won’t go away, and Labtests is fast running out of goodwill as it struggles to prove it can, indeed, provide the level of service promised for the sums agreed.

Not only is Labtests’ reputation and contract on the line, so too is the reputation of the District Health Boards that awarded Labtests the contract. The DHBs will not be happy at having to send senior medical and management staff into Labtests to try and stop the continued mistakes, and bad news haemorrhaging into the public arena.

Gone is former Chief Executive Ulf Lindskog, apparently banished back to Australia. Gone too is the patience of large numbers of Auckland’s medical community who seem alarmed, and genuinely fearful, for the health and wellbeing of their patients. And gone is much of the goodwill and confidence many Aucklanders may have had in Labtests’ service.

Over-promising and under-delivering is one of the biggest reputation damagers there is – especially when it’s so public.

So confident was controversial former Labtests CEO, Tony Bierre, that in a letter to doctors in 2006 he promised:

“Labtests Auckland will ensure that you and your patients will not be affected by the change of supplier … other than to notice an improved quality of service.”

A bold claim.

I, and many other Aucklanders, I’m sure, am interested to see when they start delivering on that promise. So far they seem to be falling well short.

As Labtests struggles to provide the service it promised, increasing numbers of patients are choosing to go private and pay the former provider – Diagnostic MedLab – privately. I guess it’s one way of achieving the $15m or so savings a year Labtests promised.

No doubt Labtests will retain the contract given what’s at stake, but the odds of them winning the public’s confidence are getting longer by the day. If I were a betting woman, my ‘Last Bets’ wouldn’t be on Labtests.