Laboratory Profile with Infrastructural Facilities Available in Pathological Centres of Hooghly and Burdwan District of West Bengal: A Comparative Analysis between Government and Private Run Laboratories

Abstract

Modern medical therapy is dependent on diagnostic reports. To meet up the need there is mushrooming of clinical laboratories in private sector. A huge amount of money is being rolled and a large number of trained skilled and untrained staffs are being involved in this profession. Several studies have been carried out in developed and developing countries regarding laboratory profile with infrastructural facilities available in pathological centres. In our country, particularly in West Bengal about the systematic study in this concern i.e. availability of laboratory facilities, health hazards and bio-safety of the staff and technique of disposal of laboratory wastes in government and private run laboratories is scanty. In this respect, a cross sectional study was conducted during the period of 2007 to 2012 after getting ethical clearance certificate issued by ‘Institutional Ethics Committee' to explore the scenario of medical laboratories in the district of ‘Hooghly' and ‘Burdwan' of West Bengal, India. The study covered 50% clinical laboratories (both government and private) situated within 5 kilometer radius surrounding the district/sub-divisional/rural hospitals of ‘Hooghly' and ‘Burdwan' districts. In the study 100 laboratories from four subdivisions of ‘Hooghly' district out of which 85 from private sector and 15 from government sector were covered and from six subdivisions of ‘Burdwan' district, 100 private laboratories and 20 government laboratories were covered. Laboratory profile were assessed from the view point of area, category, ownership, registration status, laboratory waste management, bio-safety and sanitation status, instrumentation, laboratory accident/injury, immunization against ‘Hepatitis-B' virus, power and water resource. A pre-standardized questionnaire was used as a data collecting tool. It was evident from this experiment that the diagnostic laboratory facilities are available more in urban area than in rural area in two districts. The number of such service provider is higher in private sector than in government sector. As per financial capability of the owners of the laboratories in private sector the establishments are equipped. If there was provision of financial assistance from the controlling authority (i.e. Dept. of Health of the State or National Government) to the laboratories for infrastructural development, more services could be provided with moderate fees to the patients. Rushes of patients in the government laboratories will be automatically diminished and at the same time they will serve with a reproducible laboratory reports to the medical practitioners in time. In the government sector the increase of laboratory diagnostic services is also notable with expansion of new divisions and incorporation of modern technologies to cope up with the need based patients' services and the ‘Consumer Protection Rules'. Regarding immunization status of laboratory staff, bio-safety and biomedical waste management of the private sector laboratories the costs of the vaccines as well as fees charged by the agencies become a burden for the small size private laboratories. The district health authorities may think for alternative or subsidized rate for bio medical waste management for the small laboratories along with monitoring of proper health status of working laboratory staff and laboratory profile.