Most private labs do not follow any guidelines
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Is there any set of guidelines for starting a diagnostic laboratory in Karnataka?
There are no guidelines or laws governing diagnostic laboratories. One or two doctors come together and start a diagnostic centre after obtaining a license from the DHO and DC. There is no standard practice for conducting the tests or the storage facilities. In the absence of a benchmark, the charges for the blood and haemoglobin tests vary from one centre to another. Some even offer discounts to attract more patients.
How safe are these private diagnostic centers?
Any blood test has to be certified by a pathologist, but in most of these laboratories it is certified by a laboratory technologist. So how can you believe the test reports are authentic and safe? Less than 10 per cent of the diagnostic laboratories in the city have trained pathologists.
How can a layman choose an authentic diagnostic laboratory?
Before going to any of the laboratories for a test, one should check whether they are accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). While NABL accreditation is not a must for diagnostic laboratories, the board has been established to provide government, industrial associations and industry in general with a scheme for third party assessment of a laboratory’s quality and technical competence in testing and calibration. So if a laboratory is NABL accredited you can trust it.
How can safety and hygiene be ensured in these diagnostic laboratories?
There should be a legitimate process and a universally designed standard of practice for sample collection, storage facilities, use of reagents and so on. There should also be a body to authenticate the functioning of these laboratories. But to make sure that they follow the required safety and hygiene standards they must all get NABL accredited.
(Dr Aravind Gubbi, Vice President, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association)
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