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Delhi
to bring out legislation for path labs
Rita
Dutta - Mumbai
Labs
to be registered and awarded grades
While experts show concern about the lack of standardization
in pathological labs mushrooming in the country, Delhi
ministry of health has drafted regulations for path
labs for the capital city. The regulations state that
all the path labs in the capital city have to be compulsorily
registered with the state health ministry, said Dr A
K Walia, minister of health, Delhi, while speaking to
EHM.
The
regulations have been formulated by a five-member committee
comprising doctors, experts in path labs and bureaucrats
over a period of six months. Delhi has around 1,500 laboratory
centres.
The
regulation is expected to standardize laboratory practice,
as a pathological laboratory could be started sans any
paper work, regulations and license. "Lab practice
is perceived as any other money-minting business in the
absence of any legislation. Registration of the labs would
be the first step of regulation. Most of the labs, with
unqualified technicians, equipment and infrastructure,
can be monitored, by the simple process of registration,"
said Dr Arvind Lal, member of the drafting committee and
managing director, Dr Lal’s Path Lab.
 Depending
on the range of tests that a lab conducts, the regulations
have laid down requirements in terms of the space, equipment,
infrastructure, and the minimum qualification of the practitioners.
For instance, the regulations state that the lab technician
should have a minimum qualification of two year diploma
in lab practice from a reputed university. "There
are some short courses which churn out lab technicians
with in a few weeks. We want to stop that practice and
have qualified lab technicians," said Dr Lal.
To
improve the quality of detection, the regulation has laid
down that every path lab should have a full time lab pathologist.
"In most of the labs, there is no full time lab pathologist.
Pathologists prefer hopping four to five labs in a single
day, and just sign the report. This results in poor quality
of detection," said Dr Walia.
The
legislation would also include gradation of labs, depending
on the tests that are conducted. The four gradations to
be awarded are A, B, C and D, with A for lab conducting
the most sophisticated tests to D for a small-time lab
conducting simple routine tests, said Dr Walia.
A
lab would only be registered when it fulfills all the
criteria mentioned in the regulations. The modus operandi
of registration would involve the lab first filling up
the registration form, followed by inspection by a team
of government officials to check the lab, before awarding
the registration certificate.
"Regular
checks would be conducted to see whether labs have registered
themselves, and the labs which would fail to obtain registration
would not be allowed to practice," said Dr Lal.
Emphasising
on the importance of the legislation, Dr Lal said, "National
Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibrating Laboratories
(NABL) has given a thrust to accreditation, i.e excellence
in lab practice, but it is not compulsory. The regulations
would stop below par lab from practicing in the first
place itself."
With
Indian having about 20,000 path labs, now it needs to
be seen, whether other states also brings out their legislation.
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