NEW DELHI: Finding a worthy testing lab or collection centre in your neighbourhood is going to be just a click away soon. The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), a national accreditation body for testing and calibration of laboratories, is working on an app to locate the nearest accredited lab.
The concept is similar to the one used by Google Maps to locate nearest cafes, parks or attractions, said Anil Relia, CEO of NABL.
Check on phone if you can trust nearby lab
Out of nearly 1,000 diagnostic labs in Delhi NCR, only about 100 or 10% are NABL accredited. It means that they have undergone third-party assessment for availability of qualified manpower, proper equipment and storage facilities among others.
NABL, Relia added, plans to start accreditation process for collection centres also. “Most big laboratories have set up multiple collection centres. Here, patients can give blood or urine sample for testing at the labs associated with them,” the NABL CEO said.’
In the last few years, hundreds of diagnostic labs and sample collection centres, often franchise units, have come up in Delhi NCR. However, there is no state law for quality control in them.
The Clinical Establishment Act, a central law that sought to regulate the hospitals and labs, is yet to be implemented in the state. Doctors say many collection centres are run by untrained staff.
“They have no knowledge of the protocols to be followed for storage and transportation of the samples, which can affect results and thus the decision making ability of the treating doctor,” said an expert.
Last year, the Delhi Medical Council ordered striking off the name of a pathologist lending his signature to several labs without even going through the reports. Allegedly, the pathologist was offering consultation to 20-25 labs but visited only those labs which were near to his house. He never visited those labs that were very far from his house. In that case, he would see the slides on internet and give report on telephone.
“The labs had access to his scanned signature that was used to prepare the reports,” the investigators found. The accused, on the other hand, claimed that his signature was being forged by certain labs and he was being defamed.
“There are many lab technicians who are running standalone lab facilities in the country. This practice is more widespread in rural areas where there is a lack of qualified pathologist,” said a senior member of the ethics committee of the Medical Council of India.
