Horan Brendan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHoran Brendan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 26 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13784. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.BRENDAN HORAN (Independent) to theMinister of Health: How long does it take for microbiology samples to be taken from a patient in the Eastern Bay of Plenty until the sample is cultured in thePathlab microbiology laboratory in Tauranga and is he confident that the handling of samples and the time taken meets international medical standards?Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health): That depends on where in the Eastern Bay of Plenty the patient is and the nature of the sample taken from them. In response to the member’s second question yes I am assured that the standards both national and international are being met.Brendan Horan: Is the Minister aware that many Bay of Plenty medical practitioners are concerned that they are taking samples from patients as early as 8.30 a.m. that inWhakatāne are not collected from their practice until late in the afternoon and then have to be transported to Tauranga which is well beyond the best-practice time of 2 hours as stated in international medical standards?Hon TONY RYALL: What I am advised is that every general practice inWhakatāne does have material available to them that allows them to put these specimens in a protective medium which allows the medium to work to keep the microbiological sample testable within a period much longer than that—probably between 24 and 48 hours. So what the member will recognise is that there is a difference between the unprotected and protected microbiology specimens and the storage and transport times vary between these. Unprotected specimens should be received by the laboratory within 2 hours. The only unprotected specimens produced in the Eastern Bay of Plenty are those generated within the hospital and these areprocessed within that time frame. The general practitioner - generated microbiology specimens must be protected and all general practitioners are provided with transport media and have specific instructions and requirements for their use. I am advised that the time lines for transport meet national and international standards.Brendan Horan: Is the Minister aware that in many secondary schools where nurses are authorised to provide sexual health services microbiology samples including genital swabs forchlamydia and gonorrhoea are not uplifted until the end of the day when the best practice requires the samples to be inoculated on to a culture medium within 15 minutes? Is he satisfied with the Third World standards under his watch?Hon TONY RYALL: If the member actually reflects on what he has just said he said that the international standard would be for a swab to be taken atŌpōtiki College and be tested and on a substance—Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: Petri dish.Hon TONY RYALL: —or a Petri dish—within 15 minutes. The hospital is at least 40 minutes away. So what the member said just does not make sense. I can assure the member that all the advice that we have received is that they are meeting international standards.Brendan Horan: I seek leave to table an email from a medical practitioner inWhakatāne expressing their concerns about the time taken to collect—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The document has been described enough. Leave is sought to table an email from a particular medical practitioner in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Brendan Horan: I seek leave to table a document from a medical specialist outlining how genital swabs ought to be inoculated on to a culture medium within minutes of collection.Mr SPEAKER: This is leave sought to table a medical professional’s advice to the House on how swabs should be handled. Is there any objection to that being tabled? There is none. It can be so tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Brendan Horan: I seek leave to table a letter from a doctor inŌpōtiki stressing how literally hundreds of lab samples have been rendered useless by transport delays.Mr SPEAKER: Order! Is the doctor’s name included?Brendan Horan: Yes the doctor’s name is included.Mr SPEAKER: And the doctor is happy for that to be tabled?Brendan Horan: Yes.Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table it. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Brendan Horan: I seek leave to table a document from internationally renowned expert on microbiology Dr Mike Miller PhD from Georgia USA stressing standards—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I think again that has been adequately described. Before I put the leave has the member got anything else that he wants to table as well? Can we get it all out in one go and I will put the leave once.Brendan Horan: I seek leave to table a letter from a secondary school sexual health nurse—Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that particular letter. And the final document?Brendan Horan: The final document is a letter from a secondary school sexual health nurse in Tauranga stressing her concerns that samples are not collected—Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table two particular letters and a report by a renowned expert whose name I have now forgotten. Is there any objection to that course of action? There appears to be none. They can be tabled.Documents by leave laid on the Table of the House.Chris Auchinvole: What other progress is being made in relation to providing better health services to the people of the Eastern Bay of Plenty?Hon TONY RYALL: I am delighted to tell the House that real progress is being made on the redevelopment of theWhakatāne Hospital. The project is due to be completed on time and on budget in early 2014. The Government has committed $65 million to the redevelopment ofWhakatāne Hospital including construction of a brand new hospital. The redevelopment will deliver amongst other things 98 new beds an emergency department and a high-dependency unit for patients who need more intensive observation treatment and nursing care than patients in a general ward. This is just another example of major investments being made by this Government when the previous crowd only ever promised it.Brendan Horan: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. With regard to your earlier ruling I would just like to say the first letter that I tendered was anonymous because of fear of repercussions from the Bay of Plenty District Health Board.Mr SPEAKER: I thank the member for his information. It would have been better if we had had it at the time.