Private hospitals have been accused of allowing Covid infected people to go home.
Army Commander General Shavendra Silva and Director General of Health Services, Dr Asela Gunawardena met representatives of private sector laboratory technicians and discussed the possibility of implementing a common regulatory mechanism to conduct antigen and PCR tests.
Priority will be given to BOI approved garment industry employees, those travelling overseas, the workforce in respective hospitals and those set to undergo surgeries in order to streamline and reinforce 100% credibility of such procedures to be in line with the guidelines issued by the Director General of Health Services.
“It is obligatory for the private sector to detain those coming for antigen and PCR tests for some time in a waiting area before their results are reported. This appears not to be the case. Complaints have been received that although such cases are confirmed positive, proper procedures have not been followed. Health authorities are not informed of such positive cases and private hospitals tend to release them haphazardly,” General Shavendra Silva said.
He also said that there have been complaints that private labs charge exorbitant sums of money for antigen and PCR tests.
“This should not be the case. Only 30 technically-equipped such laboratories are authorized by the Health Department to carry out such tests in accordance with approved provisions and guidelines because concerns have been expressed as regards to the reliability and accuracy of such tests by certain affected parties since they sometimes provide contradictory results,” he said.
Dr Asela Gunawardena appealed to the technicians to strictly adhere to the guidelines and regulations to this effect and ensure credibility of the testing methodology at their highest levels. (Colombo Gazette)
