Kullu lab lacks facility to run essential tests

Kullu, April 1

Most of the medical tests are not being conducted for the p/ast five days at the Krsnaa Diagnostics laboratory in the Kullu Regional Hospital. Krsnaa Diagnostic’s laboratory in-charge Sudesh Gaur said the reagents required for some tests were awaited, so the tests were not being conducted. He added that the reagents were being transported and the test facility would be resumed soon.

Reagents awaited

• Medical tests of nearly 250 to 300 patients were conducted daily in the laboratory. The facility for 233 tests was provided free of cost or at subsidised rates at Krsnaa lab.
• Besides, 24 hour services were also available at the Krsnaa laboratory for providing all the test information to the patients under one roof
• Krsnaa Diagnostic’s laboratory in-charge Sudesh Gaur said the reagents required for some tests were being transported and the test facility would be resumed soon

Medical tests of nearly 250 to 300 patients were conducted daily in the laboratory. The facility for 233 tests was provided free of cost or at subsidised rates at Krsnaa lab. Apart from this, 24 hour services were also available at the Krsnaa laboratory for providing all the test information to the patients under one roof.

Due to non-availability of all types of tests, patients have to wander from one laboratory to another. The patients also have to pay hefty amounts to get the tests done in private laboratories. Samples of patients are taken for testing in the government laboratory of the hospital only till 11.30 am and due to this it is facing heavy rush of patients.

Patients Sonam, Suhani and Ankita said after standing in the queue for a long time, they reached the registration counter and realised that not all types of tests were being conducted in the laboratory. They said they approached the government laboratory, but there too time was cited as the reason for not conducting the tests. Another patient Lalit alleged that apart from the CBC (Complete Blood Count) test, other tests were not being done at the Krsnaa lab. He added that the lab officials said the tests were not being done due to technical glitches.

Krsnaa Lab, established under Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the regional hospital here, started its services on May 30, 2022. The lab provides testing facilities to patients at subsidised rates or free of cost and the state government bears the costs of the subsidy or free tests. The lab had halted operations in January for a couple of days over non-payment of dues by the state government. Sources said huge amounts of dues to be paid by the state government to the company were still pending.

Residents said the Kullu hospital provides health facilities to the masses of four districts and caters to a lot of patients daily. They said it should be ensured that the facilities of essential services were not hampered.