By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Feb. 11, GNA – Dr Tony Basingnaa, the Upper West Regional Laboratory Scientist, has urged Medical Laboratory Scientists to exhibit high professional standards in their service delivery since that was critical to quality and timely healthcare delivery.
He said laboratory results played a critical role in helping diagnose, manage, and treat people’s lives hence the need for diligence in laboratory testing.
Dr Basingnaa explained that to guarantee the quality of medical laboratory results, every medical laboratory in the region went through “Quality Management System” to ensure the accuracy of the results.
He said this in Wa during the maiden awards ceremony of the Upper West Regional branch of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS).
The ceremony was to recognise, honour and celebrate its members in the region for their dedication to the service and growth of the association.
The ceremony saw 20 people comprising members who had served or still serving in various positions within the Association, the Upper West Regional Medical Scientist and the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services among others receiving plaques and certificates.
Dr Basingnaa entreated the laboratory scientists to provide good quality services to clients irrespective of relationship.
Stressing the importance of evidence-based medicine in the modern era, he encouraged medical laboratory scientists to specialise to enhance the quality of their service delivery.
Dr Damien Punguyire, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, emphasising the importance of the medical laboratory scientists in the healthcare delivery value chain, stated that without laboratory services many lives would be lost.
He explained that prompt and accurate laboratory results helped in targeted services delivery, which in turn reduced the cost of accessing health care services.
“If someone comes with fever and body aches, without a lab (test), a smart clinician will start antimalaria, then they will add antibiotics, then they will add many others (and that will increase the cost of treatment)”, Dr Punguyire explained.
He acknowledged the limited number of medical laboratory scientists in the region, which was also posing a significant challenge to the Lab Scientists.
Dr Robert Amesiya, the Medical Director of the Upper West Regional Hospital, reiterating the importance of good laboratory service to quality health care delivery said: “You can hardly run any good health facility without good laboratory inputs.”
He indicated that every facet of the health care delivery system including surgeries, gynecology, pediatrics among others needed good laboratory inputs.
He commended the Association for introducing the awards ceremony to recognise and celebrate the sacrificial services of members.
Mr Michael Amoah Gyansah, the Upper West Regional Chairperson of GAMLS, urged the members to use the awards ceremony to, “reconnect, recharge and renew our commitment to serving humanity.”
He said the initiative had come to stay and would be an annual event to recognise the hard work of its members to service delivery.
Mr Patrick Nsobila, the National Chairman of Medical Laboratory Professionals Workers’ Union (MELPWU), indicated that they were making frantic efforts at the union front to ensure that medical laboratory scientists who had been specialised were paid according to their specialisation to help enhance the quality of health care delivery.
GNA