Southern District Health Board
Dunedin Hospital
201 Great King Street
Private Bag 1921
DUNEDIN 9054
Chief Executive Officer
Phone 03-476 9456 Fax 03-476 9450
6 April 2020
Ms Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
Ref 1927
By Email:
[email address]
Dear Ms Van Wey Lovatt,
Official Information Act Request
I refer to your Official Information Act request received 24 March 2020, in which you
specifically requested the following information.
1. I am writing to request a copy of the your DHB's best practice protocol for the archiving,
storage, or bio banking of human tissue for diagnostic purposes, whether they are formalin fixed,
paraffin embedded or pathology slides, and the standards, legislation or scientific evidence
which provides the basis for your DHB's protocol.
2. Is your DHB protocol for the archiving, storage, or bio banking of human tissue for diagnostic
purposes, whether they are formalin fixed, paraffin embedded or pathology slides, based on a
universally adopted standard within NZ or has your DHB determined its own policy.
3. Please explain the potential hazards of leaving formalin fixed, paraffin embedded or pathology
slides in an unsecure, non-temperature and non-humidity regulated environment for 2 months
over a NZ summer: say a on an employee's desk which is open to the public and in a repurposed
house adjacent to the hospital from mid-December to late February. Request
4. Please provide me with the name of the independent agency or agencies which provides
oversight for your medical laboratory.
This service is contracted by Southern DHB to Southern Community Laboratories. We are
therefore unable to provide you with the information requested.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of our decision by the Ombudsman. The
Ombudsman's Office can be contacted on 0800 802 602 or on-line at
http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/. Yours sincerely
Chris Fleming
Chief Executive Officer
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