Author Topic: King Edward Medical University dept lacks equipment  (Read 2866 times)

Offline fizza bano

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King Edward Medical University dept lacks equipment
« on: August 23, 2010, 10:52:59 AM »
King Edward Medical University dept lacks equipment
LAHORE: Pathology department of the King Edward Medical University (KEMU), one of the premium varsities of the country, is lacking vital equipment and infrastructural facilities to conduct various tests and educational training of the postgraduate students.
The department is currently housing four sections, including histopathology, hematology, microbiology and chemical pathology under one roof. A large number of laboratory investigations, both specialised and routine, were carried out in the department for patient care as well as educational purposes.

Sources told Dawn that out of the four, two sections – chemical pathology and microbiology laboratory - are not recognised yet by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) for FCPS training despite the fact that the department is one of the oldest and the largest among those of other medical institutions.

The university, which is also known for its high number of medical students and patients (visiting its teaching institute, Mayo Hospital), was not imparting FCPS training to its doctors and medical students in the disciplines of chemical pathology and microbiology for years.

There are two automated chemistry analysers installed in the chemical section of the pathology department which have been lying out of order for the last one-year and even routine tests of blood urea, serum creatinine, LFT’s (Liver Function Test) are being done manually with dubious accuracy and authenticity.

The sources said the purchase committee had reportedly refused to recommend these two machines some five years back giving justification that the company manufacturing the equipment was not reliable. The automated chemistry analysers still had two years’ warranty but the company technicians were not visiting the department to repair the equipment despite several written complaints, they added.

The KEMU department, in separate letters to the varsity vice-chancellor and the Punjab health department, has sought that the company be declared blacklisted for not responding to its complaints. However, the health department has taken no action yet. In the absence of test facility at the KEMU department, the patients were either being referred to the Mayo Hospital’s already overburdened central lab or the private laboratories charging exorbitant fees.

The chemical pathology section also lacks equipment for arterial blood gasses (ABG’s) determination, which is a very vital test to manage critical patients of renal failure, patients on ventilators and also those affected by various sorts of poisoning etc.

The department is also without automated immune analyser, the equipment required to determine level of various hormones like estrogen, progesterone, rennin, aldosterone, thyroid hormones etc.

Similarly, another machine which is required for measuring serum electrolyte levels in the blood is also not there in the department and patients are forced to visit private laboratories for these tests. The equipment is used to carry out tests of patients with kidney failure, diarrhea and cholera, besides for post-operative and pre-operative surgical management etc.

In the past when the chemical pathology section was fully functional, more than a million tests, including those of blood sugar, LFT, cardiac enzymes, electrolytes, lipids profile and HCV ELISA, were annually conducted there, the sources said.

Besides, the three generators which are supposed to provide electricity to the pathology department during long spells of loadshedding have been lying out of order for the last several months, badly affecting the lab services.

KEMU pathology department head Prof Dr Muhammad Munir told Dawn the department was catering to the needs of a large number of patients visiting the Mayo Hospital, especially the outdoor patients.

About department’s two sections which are yet to be recognised by the CPSP, Dr Munir said efforts were under way and the department was trying to equip these sections with new equipment to meet the criteria.

To a question about the missing equipment, he said recommendations were being forwarded to the authorities concerned to purchase these machines. About three non-functional generators, Dr Munir said the institute’s administration has been asked to get them repaired.Dawn