Maybe this is a good example of why a commerical model (profit/loss) is not correct for health care, do you want your doctor competing with other doctors to see who can do the job the cheapest?

"Dr Beer said he was satisifed the lab would meet the NZ standards in March 2010."

Lets hope Dr Beer and/or his immediate family aren't misdiagnosed between now and then! Sack this idiot of a man, along with the DHB's.

Perhaps those affected need to follow the example of the USA - lawsuit comes to mind!

And the damage is pretty well irreversible now that DML have all but dismantled their operation in Auckland, since they lost the contract they had no other option. The DHB has stuffed this up so royally it's not funny - particularly not funny in fact, since it's only a matter of time before this costs someone their life.

I agree with post #1 - the only reason someone would take the enormous risk taken here for a less than 3% saving is either unbelievable stupidity, or a generous backhander. I say investigate the board members responsible! If it turns out there was no corruption, sack them for incompetence. If it turns out there was, prosecute! And prosecute them on the basis of the critical service that they have compromised, and the lives that compromise has damaged.

Just wait for it, any investigation/report will show the proper process was followed. However process doesn't measure quality, typical govt dept mentality, as long as the process was followed then everything is squeaky clean, doesn't matter if sewage is oozing out of the seams. In the private sector, companies go broke for these poor decisions.

This is what happens when you put accoutants in charge. Doesn't matter if it's the health service or the education service or whatever. Even though they understand the saying "you get what you pay for" they'll still push and push for the cheapest option, and then congratulate themselves afterwards for providing crap service to their "clients".

Often the congratulations take the form of tasty performance packages.

Time to take a deeper look for what happened during supplier selection time. How could something so important be glanced over. Check under the covers for pecuniary gains, possibly. The Health system has wreaked of this activity for years.

Most people following this sorry saga will be absolutely amazed at the magnitude of how badly the DHB got it wrong. Thought processes along these lines perhaps? "Lets just get rid a quality system that works very well, accept a verbal assurance from an overseas company that they can deliver a similar but cheaper system (despite no facilities in place), and not bother to question where the savings might be coming from (?quality of work, understaffing), Anywhere else in the developed world and heads would roll. It's time for the entire DHB board(s) to be sacked. You can bet the amount taken to sort out the mess even to this stage has exceeded these supposed 'savings'.

Why don't the AK DHB just admit they stuffed up big time, eat humble pie and go back to the system that worked! This must be costing millions to sort out!

Cheapest bidder won, what do people expect!? Considering the huge role that lab tests/pathogy has in the diagnostic proces I'm surprised the DHBs don't allocate more money into the service. Consumers will always lose when there is a bidding war for who can offer the cheapest service.