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By Local Democracy Reporter Alisha Evans
Pathology services in the Bay of Plenty are beginning to resume “business as usual” after being heavily impacted by staff shortages.
The Greerton Pathlab clinic reopened for laboratory tests on Tuesday [subs April 11] after closing a year ago.
But two of Tauranga’s pathology collection centres remain shut, with a date for the reopening of the Ōtūmoetai clinic still unknown.
The Ōtūmoetai clinic closed in November 2021 and the Mount Maunganui collection centre closed at the end of September 2022.
A reopening date for the Mount Maunganui clinic is set for June 6 according to Pathlab chief executive officer Dianne McQueen.
“We have recruited and are currently within the required 3-month training programme for staffing to enable the re-opening of our Mount Maunganui facility.
“A re-opening date of Ōtūmoetai continues to be considered, based on recruitment and then training,” she said.
McQueen said three more staff needed to be employed and trained before the Ōtūmoetai clinic could reopen.
Other clinics in the Bay of Plenty have been operating on reduced hours because of the staff shortages.
Whakatāne’s Phoenix House clinic has reduced hours, the Katikati clinic is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the Te Puke clinic is open on Tuesday and Thursday.
Whakatāne will resume usual hours from Monday, April 17, Katikati returns to 5 days a week from May 8 and Te Puke will return to 5 days a week from May 29.
Local Democracy Reporting previously reported Pathlab wait times of up to an hour and 20 minutes were “nothing unusual”.
Paula Bilbe required weekly blood tests since June last year and said the delays increased during that time.
“It's nothing unusual to wait up to 1 hour 20 mins for a test that takes less than 10 minutes,” she said.
In regards to wait times, McQueen said: “We are looking forward to wait-times to return to normal pre-Covid levels at our central Tauranga facilities, Cameron Rd and 2nd Ave.”
McQueen said the closures were because laboratories experienced workforce shortages and there was a national and global shortage of phlebotomists.
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted Pathlab through employee sickness and resignations, which meant the team had to be redistributed to the more densely populated areas, she said.
“As always, we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused to our patients over this time.
“We sincerely thank the community for your patience and support over the past year and are most pleased to finally be in a position to start resuming business as usual.”
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