News

The next generation of prenatal screening now in NZ

We’re excited to announce the next generation of non-invasive prenatal screening, Illumiscreen, is now available in Aotearoa New Zealand from across the APHG laboratory network. Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS), sometimes known as NIPT, has been available for quite some time to screen fetal DNA for trisomy 21 (Down), 18 (Edward), 13 (Patau). We now have the latest […]

New D-dimer units for Nelson/Marlborough

All diagnostic laboratories in New Zealand are standardising to the same reporting units for D-Dimer.  We will change our D-Dimer reporting units from mg/L to ug/L FEU (fibrinogen-equivalent units) (e.g. 0.5 mg/L to 500 ug/L FEU).  The new cut-offs will be: Age (years old)Cut-off (ug/L FEU)≤ 50500≤ 60600≤ 70700≤ 80800≤ 90900>911000 Date to be implemented […]

Upgrade to MLS Timaru Laboratory Information System

We’re upgrading our Laboratory Information Systems. Here is how it will affect referrers. From September 6th, Medlab South Timaru will be going live with upgrades to its Laboratory Information System (LIS). This is part of a nationwide initiative that will refresh our existing LIS. Not only does this upgrade make for a more robust system, […]

Matariki weekend

Our collection centres will all be closed on Friday 24 June for Matariki.

Queen’s birthday weekend

Our collection centres will be closed on Monday June 6 for the Queen’s birthday public holiday. We will reopen again on Tuesday June 7.

Easter & ANZAC weekends

Our collection centres will be closed on the Easter and ANZAC day public holidays.

Festive season opening hours

Our collection centres are ALL closed for the entire Christmas and New Year long weekends, but are open the other working days during this time, with the below exceptions. Note: The Tahunanui Collection Centre is closed from 23 December – 9 January.The collection centre at Nelson Hospital is open for hospital patients only for most […]

Restricted hospital access

Nelson Hospital and Wairau Hospital are currently restricting access to the hospital. This means that our hospital based collection centres are not open to community patients, except for exceptional circumstances. Please ensure you book at a community based clinic in the first instance. See our list of collection centres for options.

Alert Level 2

Kia ora koutou, here is our Alert Level 2 status: Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) Our FNA service has resumed and we are taking bookings as usual with 30 minute slots rather than the usual 15 minutes to prevent cross over of patients. Patients will be screened and support people are unfortunately not permitted in […]

COVID update – Alert Level 3

Kia ora koutou, here is our Alert Level 3 status: Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) Our FNA service has resumed and we are taking bookings as usual with 30 minute slots rather than the usual 15 minutes to prevent cross over of patients. Patients will be screened and support people are unfortunately not permitted in […]