Policy on requests from third party providers of pathology specimens for second opinion

Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended) made this Official Information request to MidCentral District Health Board

The request was successful.

From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)

Dear DHB,

I am a New Zealand citizen, which is demonstrated by the fact that the MoH has already confirmed my citizenship prior to responding to my OIA requests (or a google search of my name).

The Royal College of Pathologists Australasia has a policy titled "Provision of second opinions with particular reference to morphological examination", which addresses the best practice with regards to referral for second and subsequent opinion of pathology specimens.

Request 1:
I respectfully request your DHB's policy on second opinions requested by a third party who is a medical practitioner currently involved in the medical care of the patient from whom the pathological material was originally obtained.

Request 2:
In the event that your DHB deviates from the aforementioned RCPA policy, I request an explanation for why your DHB deviates from best practice.

Please note, my request does not reflect the standard of care provided at your DHB, but is to ascertain whether there is consistent adherence to RCPA best practice amongst all NZ DHBs.

Yours faithfully,

Amy S Van Wey Lovatt

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From: OIA
MidCentral District Health Board

Thank you for your OIA request. We will endeavour to respond to it as soon as possible and in any event within the next 20 working days. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe. If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into account.

We operate a proactive release policy where the DHB publishes information on this website. As part of the policy we publish selected OIA responses that may be of public interest. We may publish the OIA response we send to you with your personal details redacted.

Regards, Zelda Rogers

Administration Records Officer

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From: Megan Doran
MidCentral District Health Board


Attachment Van Wey Lovatt Pathology Request 2.pdf
143K Download View as HTML

Attachment Van Wey Lovatt Pathology Request.pdf
130K Download View as HTML


Dear Amy

 

Please find attached two responses to your two Offical Information Act
requests.

 

Kind regards

Megan

 

Megan Doran

Personal Assistant to:

Craig Johnston, General Manager,Strategy, Planning & Performance

Tracee Te Huia, General Manager, Maori Health

MidCentral District Health Board

PO Box 2056

Palmerston North

[1][email address]

06 350 8928

 

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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)

Dear Megan Doran,

I am confused by the response I received regarding my OIA request for your DHB's policy for requests from third party providers of pathology specimens for second opinion.

You stated: "The MidCentral District Health Board has no documented policy on second opinions requested by a third party who is a medical practitioner currently involved in the medical care of the patient from whom the pathological material was originally obtained. All MidCentral DHB clinical staff follow best practice guidance of their relevant professional colleges."

Request 1:
To clarify, if your DHB has not adopted a specific policy, how can you be assured that your clinical staff follow the best practice of their relevant professional colleges?

Request 2:
To be clear, does this mean that your DHB staff follow the RCPA policy regarding such requests?

Even if there is not a written policy, your DHB must have a standard practice.

Request 3:
I respectfully request a description of your DHB's standard practice regarding requests by third party providers for second opinions of pathology specimens.

Request 4:
In the event that your DHB's standard practice is inconsistent with the RCPA policy, I respectfully request an explanation for why your DHB deviates from the professional standard set out by the RCPA policy.

Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt

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From: OIA
MidCentral District Health Board

Dear Amy Van Wey Lovatt

Thank you for your OIA request. We will endeavour to respond to it as soon as possible.  However, as an essential service, MidCentral DHB's priority is the COVID-19 pandemic.  We may be unable to respond to your request within the required 20 working days and we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe. If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into account.

We operate a proactive release policy where the DHB publishes information on this website. As part of the policy we publish selected OIA responses that may be of public interest. We may publish the OIA response we send to you with your personal details redacted.

Regards, Zelda Rogers
Administration Records Officer

-----Original Message-----
From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt <[FOI #12509 email]>
Sent: Friday, 29 May 2020 2:18 p.m.
To: Megan Doran <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Official Information Act Requests responses

Dear Megan Doran,

I am confused by the response I received regarding my OIA request for your DHB's policy for requests from third party providers of pathology specimens for second opinion.

You stated: "The MidCentral District Health Board has no documented policy on second opinions requested by a third party who is a medical practitioner currently involved in the medical care of the patient from whom the pathological material was originally obtained. All MidCentral DHB clinical staff follow best practice guidance of their relevant professional colleges."

Request 1:
To clarify, if your DHB has not adopted a specific policy, how can you be assured that your clinical staff follow the best practice of their relevant professional colleges?

Request 2:
To be clear, does this mean that your DHB staff follow the RCPA policy regarding such requests?

Even if there is not a written policy, your DHB must have a standard practice.

Request 3:
I respectfully request a description of your DHB's standard practice regarding requests by third party providers for second opinions of pathology specimens.

Request 4:
In the event that your DHB's standard practice is inconsistent with the RCPA policy, I respectfully request an explanation for why your DHB deviates from the professional standard set out by the RCPA policy.

Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt

-----Original Message-----

Dear Amy

 

Please find attached two responses to your two Offical Information Act requests.

 

Kind regards

Megan

 

Megan Doran

Personal Assistant to:

Craig Johnston, General Manager,Strategy, Planning & Performance

Tracee Te Huia, General Manager, Maori Health

MidCentral District Health Board

PO Box 2056

Palmerston North

[1][email address]

06 350 8928

 

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################################################################################
Attention:
This e-mail message and any attachments contain information that is confidential and may be subject to Legal and Medical privilege.
If you are not the intended recipient, you must not peruse, use, pass on or copy this message or any attachments.
If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us by return e-mail and erase all copies of this message including any attachments.
MidCentral District Health Board does not accept any liability in respect of any virus which is not detected.

This e-mail message has been scanned and cleared by MailMarshal
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From: Megan Doran
MidCentral District Health Board


Attachment Van Wey Lovatt Request OIA Y20 568 Second request.pdf
154K Download View as HTML

Attachment Van Wey Lovatt Request Y20 1108.pdf
119K Download View as HTML

Attachment Van Wey Lovatt Pathology Request OIA Y20 1105.pdf
131K Download View as HTML


Dear Amy

 

Please find attached responses to your OIA requests.

 

Kind regards

Megan

 

Megan Doran

Executive Assistant to:

Craig Johnston, General Manager, Strategy, Planning & Performance

Tracee Te Huia, General Manager, Maori Health

MidCentral District Health Board

PO Box 2056

Palmerston North

[1][email address]

06 350 8928

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attention: 
This e-mail message and any attachments contain information that is
confidential and may be subject to Legal and Medical privilege.  If you
are not the intended recipient, you must not peruse, use, pass on or copy
this message or any attachments.  If you have received this e-mail in
error, please notify us by return e-mail and erase all copies of this
message including any attachments.  MidCentral District Health Board does
not accept any liability in respect of any virus which is not detected.
This e-mail message has been scanned and cleared by MailMarshal
[2]www.Trustwave.com 

[3]Twitter [4]Facebook [5]You Tube [6]Google+

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.trustwave.com/
3. https://twitter.com/MidCentralDHB
4. http://www.facebook.com/MidCentralDHB
5. http://www.youtube.com/user/MidCentralDHB
6. https://plus.google.com/u/0/109469860195...

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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)

Dear Megan Doran,

Thank you very much for the clarification of your response.

Just as you are aware, I would have been very pleased to have originally received a response which stated, "Our DHB follows the RCPA policy", which would have taken all of 30 seconds.

Yours sincerely,

Amy S Van Wey Lovatt

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