Pathologists fear sector collapse without urgent change
11 August, 2024
Sapeer Mayron, Sunday Star Times
Aotearoa’s private pathology sector – the labs responsible for taking samples and testing them for health problems – is facing a looming crisis, experts say.
Poor pay, staff retention and a shortage of money for innovation has put the sector on the back foot, risking patient health across the country.
Dr Liz Roberts, vice-president at The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, says there aren’t enough trainees in the wings to fill the workforce shortages of today, or those looming in the future.
Roberts, an Awanui Labs pathologist in Nelson, says poor pay means young professionals either don’t go into pathology at all, or they take their skills overseas.
“Unless we start training, attracting and keeping more people, we could be seeing a crisis in the making,” she says.
The solution, the private labs say, is with the Government, which pays them to provide pathology services. Lately, they haven’t been paid enough, Roberts says – to pay their staff equitably compared to public-sector lab workers, sustain clinics with world-class test offerings or invest in training their staff.
Without change, the health outcomes of all New Zealanders are at stake, says Awanui Labs chief executive officer Anoop Singh.