Auckland lab contract ruled invalid

The Auckland District Health Boards are looking very bad today, with the High Court ruling that their contract with Labtests Ltd was invalid, primarily due to the involvement of Auckland DHB member Dr Tony Bierre in the process. Dr Bierre is a key or the key player in Labtests.

The DHBs now have a huge problem. They have to retender the contract. If it remains with the rival Medlab, then Labtests could sue the DHBs for a huge amount of money as it had already started constructing its lab on the basis of the contract. If it stays with Labtests, then people may doubt if it was a genuine retender.

A lot of money has been spent on this, and will be spent on this, with no improvement in outcomes. Will anyone take responsibility?