Labtests' service 'still has room for improvement'

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Labtests' service has got better but has room for improvement, say Auckland GPs who remain concerned about delays in receiving test results.

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has released a report combining the results of three surveys of doctors one, six and 12 weeks after the service started in September.

The college conducted the survey in response to concerns from Auckland GPs about the changes in community laboratory services in the region.

The New Zealand Herald reported that of the college's 1135 members practising in Auckland, 442 responded to the first web-based survey, 196 to the second, and 166 to the third.

In the first and second surveys, more than 70 percent of GPs said they had experienced "significant" or "major" problems with Labtests' service. By the third survey this had dropped to 55 percent.

In survey two, 64 percent of GPs reported an improvement since the start of September and by survey three 68 percent reported an improvement.

The laboratory service had become "much better" for 14 percent of doctors in survey two and 23 percent in survey three.

Delayed access to laboratory tests was the most widespread concern initially (75.4 percent), but by the third survey, more GPs had problems with incorrect results (41.6 percent).

A third of GPs responding to survey three were still experiencing delayed test results.

- NZPA