Minister asks laboratory service providers to employ skill labour

Bolgatanga, June 20, GNA - Mr Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister, at the weekend entreated operators of medical laboratories to ensure that they engaged skilled laboratory technicians who would offer best services to their clients.

They should also ensure that they procured efficient equipment in order to deliver quality services.

"It is unacceptable to experiment with human life, hence the need for you to endeavour to provide more efficient laboratory services," Mr Woyongo said.

The Regional Minister gave the advice when he inaugurated Health First Medical Laboratory and Fitness Services (HFMLFS), a private laboratory in Bolgatanga.

He said even though government was providing the bulk of the needed infrastructure and human resources for efficiency in the health sector, health delivery should be a shared responsibility for private participation in view of the capital intensive nature of the enterprise.

He said it was this reason why government was committed to create the conducive atmosphere to enable businesses such as laboratory services to thrive.

He said there was the need for the laboratory to observe the professional ethics of keeping client confidentiality in order to win public confidence to facilitate patronage of the facility.

Mr Eric Amoh, Chief Executive Officer of HFMLFS said the laboratory which started operations in 2009 had a mission to contribute its quota to effective and proper medical care by providing holistic state of the art laboratory services to its clients.

The facility he said provides haematological, microbiological and biochemistry tests services together with home based services upon requests by clients who found their schedules too busy as well as immobile and bedridden patients.

He said more than 15,000 clients have patronised the services of HFMLFS since its establishment. Out of the number, 7000 of the clients received services from the facility during outreach programmes.

Mr Amoh said hallmark of the facility was Hepatitis B screening and vaccination.

As part of its fitness services which is expected to begin in 2012, Mr Amoh said upon completion the facility would among other things offer services in dietary, physiotherapy and counselling and assured clients of their confidentiality.

The facility has staff strength of seven; three of whom are graduates from the University for Development Studies and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and two laboratory assistants.