Telangana Govt. Diagnostics Labs Not Open 24/7 As Claimed: CAG Report
Hyderabad: Laboratories of the state-run Telangana Diagnostics, the nodal facility for conducting medical tests for patients going to government clinics and hospitals, are not open round the clock as claimed by the previous BRS government, a Comptroller and Auditor General report (CAG) has stated.
Certain samples were rejected for reasons that could not be mentioned on record, said the CAG report on public health infrastructure and management of health services tabled in the Assembly on Friday.
Officials of Telangana Diagnostics denied the claim with regard to the rejection of samples. They said all reasons for the rejection of samples were listed on their data management system (DMS).
The Telangana Diagnostics programme was started in 2018 by the BRS government to provide free laboratory testing and imaging facilities to the poor.
There are around 457 spokes (facilities from where samples are collected) in GHMC limits.
These are usually 'basti dawakhanas' and primary health centres. Each district has a pathology testing laboratory and there are 20 mini-hubs in GHMC limits where radiology services are provided.
The central hub of Telangana Diagnostics is located at the Institute of Preventive Medicine, Narayanguda.
On August 2, 2024, 7,828 samples were collected from 305 centres. The daily count of samples collected is around 8,000 at the central hub.
In 2023, over 71 lakh samples were collected in all, of which 50 lakh were from 30 districts and 20 lakh from two central hubs — the other one being in Rangareddy. The laboratory also received accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for its quality testing services in 2023.
“At the time of sample collection, the reason for rejection like hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells in the sample), temperature and others need to be mentioned in the data management system,” an official at the Narayanguda facility said.
Former health minister T. Harish Rao previously claimed that the staff of Telangana Diagnostics have six-month arrears in salaries. The programme officer was not available for comment on this,
