Risks of Medical Services Provided from Overseas

Media Release

New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)

FROM: Dr Peter Foley, NZMA Chair

DATE: Tuesday, 28 April 2009

SUBJECT: Risks of Medical Services Provided from Overseas

Risks of Medical Services Provided from Overseas

A Wellington woman’s baby aborted after an ultrasound was misread by a radiologist in Australia highlights the risk for patients when DHBs use overseas medical providers whose competencies are unknown, says the New Zealand Medical Association.

The incident occurred at Hutt Hospital and Hutt Valley DHB reportedly acknowledged that it did not know the quality standards of the overseas contractor.

A report into the case also found that the radiologist was probably not registered in New Zealand at the time.

“Patient safety may be put at risk when DHBs have no knowledge of an overseas provider’s quality standards,” says NZMA Chair Dr Peter Foley.

“To ensure the safety and protection of patients it is critical that the Ministry of Health and DHBs assess options for providing services within New Zealand and that these options be exhausted before overseas based services are considered.”

“If services must be provided from overseas they need to be certain about the safety and competence of the providers they use, and quality checks within New Zealand must be in place.”

Dr Foley also stressed that if patients were treated by overseas based practitioners and wanted to make a complaint, these practitioners were not covered by the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 or the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994.

“They are at a major disadvantage as they lose effective protection under these Acts – which pertain to New Zealand registered practitioners only.”

ENDS

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