Dear Auckland District Health Board,

Request 1:
I am writing to request a copy of the ADHB best practice protocol for the archiving, storage, or biobanking 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 the ADHB protocol.

Request 2:
Is the ADHB best practice protocol for the archiving, storage, or biobanking of human tissue for diagnostic purposes, whether they are formalin fixed, paraffin embedded or pathology slides, is a standard which is universally adopted by all NZ DHB's and medical laboratories, or does each DHB or medical laboratory determine their own best practice?

Request 3:
Please explain the potential hazards of leaving formalin fixed, paraffin embedded or pathology slides in an unsecure, non-temperature regulated environment (say a on an employee's desk outside of the laboratory) for 2 months.

Request 4:
Please provide me with the name of the independent agency or agencies which provides oversight for medical laboratories in NZ.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Please note, this request is for my information and is not a reflection upon the practices at ADHB but to ascertain if there is a universal standard within NZ. I will be making this same request to every DHB in NZ.

Kindest regards,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
(A NZ Citizen)

Yours faithfully,

Amy S Van Wey Lovatt

Dear Elaine Keenan (ADHB),

I would like to thank ADHB for the very thorough and considered response to my OIA request. This is the first ADHB response which I have received which fully complies with the OIA and the principles of transparency, in which the Act was based.

Perhaps the CE ought to respond to all of OIA requests, or at least use this response as an example for the training of ADHB staff.

In the spirit of transparency, and to reduce requests for policy, perhaps ADHB (and all DHB's) out to ensure that their policies are made public rather than private. This would only take the click of a mouse by and IT member, or at most a line or two of code.

Yours sincerely,

Amy S Van Wey Lovatt