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 Southern 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
From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
Please accept this as an acknowledgement of your Official Information Act request below.
I will try to have a response to you on or before 22 April 2020. It should be noted that many of the key staff involved with the sourcing and preparation of material for your OIA request are also directly involved with worked associate with the COVID-19 response. This may impact on our ability to respond to your OIA request within normal timeframes.
Kind regards,
Yasmin
Yasmin Seymour, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email: [email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind - Manaakitanga | Open - Pono | Positive - Whaiwhakaaro | Community - Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual hours of work are Tues - Fri, 8.45am - 2.15pm
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From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Dear Amy,
Attached is our response to your Official Information Act request 1926.
Kind regards,
Yasmin
Yasmin Seymour, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email:
[1][email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community -
Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual hours of work are Tues - Fri, 8.45am - 2.15pm. I
am currently working from home.
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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear OIA,
I was very confused by your response. Even if your DHB contracts out pathology services, third party health practitioners would make requests directly to your DHB for pathology specimens as the DHB ultimately responsible for the tissue. Thus, to clarify:
Request 1: Does this mean your DHB has adopted the RCPA policy, which is the professional standard, for such requests given there is no written policy?
Request 2: If not, I respectfully request a description of your DHB's standard practice regarding such requests and in the event that your DHB's standard practice is NOT consistent with the RCPA policy, then an explanation for the devation from the professional standards.
Request 3: If your standard practice is to forward requests to the contracting agency, then I respectfully request that your DHB forward my OIA request to the appropriate agency, pursuant to section 14 of the OIA. To avoid any misunderstanding, when I refer to policy, I would also include any standard practice, written or unwritten.
Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
Please accept this as an acknowledgement of your Official Information Act request below.
I will have a response to you on or before 29 June 2020.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email: [email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community - Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues 9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
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From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
Attached is our response to your Official Information Act request.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email:
[1][email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community -
Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues
9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear OIA,
Thank you very much for your reply; however, I note there are some errors of fact in your response.
I have been reviewing the interpretation section of the OIA, which states:
(5) Any information held by an independent contractor engaged by any department or Minister of the Crown or organisation in his capacity as such contractor shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be held by the department or Minister of the Crown or organisation.
Thus, this means that even if SDHB contracts out their laboratory services, SDHB is still responsible for providing the information. I will be happy to provide another 5 working days to SDHB to provide a response to my OIA request to avoid any complaints to the Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
Thank you for your email. We will follow up on this, and will therefore
require an extension to the response timeframe under section 15(A) of the
Official Information Act until 10 July 2020. If I am able to get the
response to you sooner than this date I will do so.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email:
[1][email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community -
Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues
9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear OIA,
I am happy to oblige. Please note, I would be satisfied with a response "SDHB and their laboratory XXX, follow the RCPA policy on requests from third party providers of pathology specimens for second opinion", provided the response is accurate. This should take all of 5 minutes to confirm and respond.
Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
We require an extension to the response timeframe under section 15(A) of the Official Information Act until 20th July 2020. If I am able to get the response to you sooner than this date I will do so.
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/.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email: [email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community - Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues 9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear OIA,
I am happy to oblige.
Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy
I must apologise, as this was intended for your other OIA request 1957. We are still hoping to get a response to you before the 10th for your OIA request 1958. I hope that this will be sufficient to notify you of the extension to 1957.
Best regards
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email: [email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community - Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues 9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
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From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
Please accept our apologies for the delay. We require a further extension
to the response timeframe under section 15(A) of the Official Information
Act until 24 July 2020. If I am able to get the response to you sooner
than this date I will do so.
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 [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email:
[2][email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community -
Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues
9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
From: Rachael McCallum On Behalf Of OIA
Sent: Monday, 22 June 2020 10:37
To: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt <[FOI #12513 email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Policy on requests from
third party providers of pathology specimens for second opinion 1926 -
1958
Hi Amy,
Thank you for your email. We will follow up on this, and will therefore
require an extension to the response timeframe under section 15(A) of the
Official Information Act until 10 July 2020. If I am able to get the
response to you sooner than this date I will do so.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email:
[3][email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community -
Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues
9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
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From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear OIA,
You had stated that you required until 10 July 2020 to provide the requested information. It is now 6 August 2020 the information has not been forthcoming. I trust this was an oversight and the information will be uploaded today.
Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
From: OIA
Southern District Health Board
Hi Amy,
Apologies for the delay. Attached is our response to your Official Information Act request.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Rachael McCallum, OIA Coordinator
Internal Ext: 55454 | DDI: 03 476 9454 | Email: [email address]
Southern District Health Board
Kind – Manaakitanga | Open – Pono | Positive – Whaiwhakaaro | Community - Whanaungatanga
Please note that my usual office hours are Mon & Thurs 9am – 2.30pm, Tues 9am – 1pm, Wed & Fri 9am – 12pm
show quoted sections
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