Awanui Labs was responding to a recently released health and disability commissioner investigation into the 2022 death of a Southland nurse — a ‘‘hindsight review’’ undertaken of the original three biopsies that revealed stomach cancer had been present in two previous biopsies and missed by Awanui Labs pathologists.
The oversight has angered Patient Voice Advocacy chairman Malcolm Mulholland, who has called for an independent inquiry into the matter.
Awanui Labs chief medical officer Dr Richard Steele said it accepted the findings of the health and disability commissioner in full and acknowledged the harm caused to the patient and her family.
‘‘We are deeply sorry for the distress and impact this has had and extend our sincere apology.
‘‘We recognise the trust patients place in our services and understand the concern this case has raised within the community. Any missed diagnosis is deeply regrettable, and patient safety remains our highest priority.’’
Dr Steele said since the incident, it had improved its practices.
This included requiring pathologists to review available endoscopy information alongside biopsy samples, reinforcing the importance of complete clinical information, and supporting teams with additional training and peer review practices.
Dr Steele said a fuller independent inquiry into the incident was not needed.
‘‘The health and disability commissioner has undertaken a detailed review of this case.
‘‘Awanui has accepted and is implementing all recommendations. We do not believe a further review is warranted and are working closely with Health NZ on ensuring quality provision of diagnostic services in Southland.’’
Mr Mulholland said the inquiry was needed to ensure there were no other serious misdiagnoses during the period from when Awanui stopped Invercargill’s histology services in 2021 and moved most testing and processing to Dunedin in 2023.
‘‘It’s not about blaming pathologists. It’s actually about looking at the system.
‘‘I hope that I’m proven wrong and that nobody else was misdiagnosed for that two-year period. But I suspect what may come out of it is that there are too few staff with too high a workload.’’
A spokeswoman for the HDC said it was aware of concerns regarding the capacity of laboratory and pathology services nationally and the HDC was now seeking further information from Health New Zealand ‘‘about how these concerns were being managed and assessed’’.
Apex union delegate Sam Heimsath said he had observed a trend with Awanui Labs and other corporate laboratory providers to gradually shut down parts of provincial diagnostic laboratory services and send samples away to be processed in larger laboratories.
‘‘Apex has raised concerns on several occasions about the danger of removing vital diagnostic services from provincial communities and how we suspected this would delay results for patients, leading to adverse outcomes.’’
The union represented most of the lab workers for Awanui Labs in the South.
