Aucklanders urge DHBs to review lab contract

September 5th 2006

100,000 Aucklanders urge the Auckland DHBs to review lab contract

Nurses, GPs, pathologists and other medical professionals want Aucklanders to help them present a petition to the Auckland DHBs this Thursday 7th September outside Auckland Hospital, Park Road at 8:30am.

100,000 people have signed the petition, calling for the Auckland, Counties-Manukau and Waitemata District Health Boards to urgently review their decision to award the contract for community laboratory services to Labtests Auckland Ltd.

DontRiskOurHealth.com founder Matt Crockett says the petition is a powerful statement of concern from the Auckland public. Pathologists, GPs, Diagnostic Medlab staff and members of the public have already rallied together in a march up Queen St. The petition shows that the public support the existing provider and agree with GPs, 97% of whom are opposed to the change.

"The scale of the public's response is without precedent in Auckland's healthcare history," Crockett says. "The people have spoken, and 100,000 Aucklanders want a review. We do not want our world-class pathology service put at risk by bureaucrats who have chosen dollars over sense."

"The DHBs need to engage with the public that they are elected to serve. They should award the contract to the provider who can best balance the needs of all stakeholders."

Crockett, who created the DontRiskOurHealth.com site to give Aucklanders a voice in the debate, says the DHBs will not succeed in shutting down this issue by ignoring it. "The DHBs have responded to the public outcry by telling us to get over it," says Crockett "our response to that is, yeah right!"

ENDS

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