Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation wants to quintuple the number of diagnostic laboratories it operates in the city, from the current number of six.
Sources told DC that the move to increase the number of labs to 30, with each of the 15 zones likely to have at least two centres, took shape after senior officials reviewed the tertiary care offered by the local body. “There was consensus among the ranks that tertiary care should be improved,” said a highly placed source.
Though not expected to be part of the upcoming budget announcement, the local body has decided to make a concerted push to get funding for the project in the current financial year itself.
“Around 2017 March, we would have started adding to our lab numbers,” said an official. The six existing labs are located at Saidapet, Perambur, EVR Salai, Thiruvanmiyur, Purasawalkam and Valluvar Kottam.
However, some of these labs offer only basic services like blood and urine sample tests. As many as three labs have X-Ray equipment, according to health department officials. “Some of the labs also have facilities for an ultrasound and electrocardiogram (ECG) examination,” said an official.
But it is all set to change as with the expansion, the corporation will also install modern equipment enabling the labs to conduct MRI and CT scans. Doppler Ultrasound test will also be added to the list, health officials said.
“The public will be able to avail these tests at less than a fraction of the cost they are charged at private labs,” said a senior official.
While private lab operators in the city welcomed the corporation’s proposal, they maintained that the pricing factor was determined by the quality of the service and the expertise of the personnel involved in the diagnostic process.
“Genuine practices are always costly,” was how Dr R. Emmanuel, managing director of Bharat scans put it.
However, doctors in government service noted that if the corporation followed through on its idea, the benefits of it to the public will be significant.
“If the corporation can offer MRI and CT scans at no cost, then it will reduce a significant burden on government hospitals,” said a senior medical practitioner at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, preferring anonymity.
“At the GH, the MRI machine can take in only 20 cases maximum per day and as there always is a high number of patients requiring its use, the machines are overworked, which means that it is running at a risk of damage and when it breaks down, the maintenance and repair will take another two or three days, putting more patients under distress,” the doctor added.
