Nearly 2,500 patients in the Tamworth area are learning that pathology tests done between 1999 and 2001 were incorrectly interpreted, the NSW Liberal/Nationals said today.

“The Iemma Government is belatedly informing these patients of the mistakes despite knowing there was a potential problem as long ago as March 2004,” said Shadow Health Minister Jillian Skinner.

“This happened under the watch of Morris Iemma when he was health minister so he has a lot of explaining to do, particularly relating to the 217 tests where ‘significant diagnostic variation … may have led to changes in patient management’.

“The pathologist who did the tests had been sacked from Wollongong Hospital in March 2004 but it wasn’t until mid-2005 that Health Minister Iemma notified the Hunter New England Area Health Service that there’d been a problem.

“And it wasn’t until March 2006 that Hunter New England announced that it would review the thousands of tests that had been done by the pathologist in Tamworth previously.

“This is typical of the secrecy and cover-up of the Iemma Government.

“Morris Iemma needs to explain why the results of the review of those tests are only today being announced – two and a half years later.

“Morris Iemma must also explain how these mistakes occurred in the first place – when the doctor concerned was supposed to have been working under supervision and all results checked at the time,” Mrs Skinner said.