Twenty-five patients at Auckland City Hospital were wrongly told they had a sexually transmitted infection – and as of today, six of them still haven’t been told it was a false result.
Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora confirmed to RNZ the mix-up came from tests processed in their internal lab between May 23 - June 4, with the error affecting some patients in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Hospital operations director Mike Shepherd said the mistake first came to light on June 4, when staff started questioning one particular result.
That raised a red flag and led to a deeper investigation, which found four batches of dodgy tests.
“We began contacting all affected patients by phone from 4 June and, to date, we have been able to contact directly all but six patients,” Shepherd said.
“We'll continue to try and contact the remaining patients.”
People are commenting on the impacts new like this could have already had on families and relationships.
"I wonder how many relations that destroyed," someone wrote on Facebook.
"How awful for those patients," added another.
A third wrote: "Bet that caused a few awkward conversations at home for those people 😬."
The false positives were caused by what seems to be a contamination in the lab’s processing.
Only one type of test was affected, and the hospital’s since shifted over to different equipment while they figure out exactly what went wrong.
“We are undertaking further investigation to identify the root cause,” Shepherd said.
While no one was wrongly told they didn’t have an STI when they actually did, Shepherd acknowledged the emotional toll the situation may have on patients.
“We apologise to those affected,” he said.
Hopefully, those six patients are told the truth sooner than later.
