THE South East Public Pathology Service at Bega will develop a partnership with the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research at Westmead.
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The decision follows a routine accreditation survey by the National Association of Testing Authorities Australia which found a range of problems relating to issues such as the quality of documentation and controls, supervision of staff, training of staff and internal systems for some tests.
As a result of these findings, pathology services at Bega will be assisted by Cooma Pathology for an interim period and links will be immediately established with major tertiary hospitals such as Westmead.
Linking the Bega laboratory with a tertiary hospital will bring an increase in the quality of services provided and assurance that appropriate standards are maintained.
"The pathology unit at Bega provides an important service to hospital staff, general practitioners and the local community," Greater Southern Area Health Service director of clinical operations, Dr Joe McGirr, said.
"This is an opportunity to improve these services and provide better training opportunities for our staff.
"To address the issues raised by NATA, a number of arrangements have been put in place to ensure that pathology services continue to be available until NATA requirements are met."
The following arrangements have been put in place to ensure continuation of pathology services to be available locally and to ensure services meet accreditation:
* The supervision contract with ACT Pathology, which expires on June 30, will not be renewed.
* ICPMR will send staff to Bega to review practices and commence working on re-attaining accreditation with NATA.
* Duplication of testing process for a number of pathology tests will be implemented. This is being undertaken at the Cooma SEPPS laboratory.
* Process for other tests to be transported to accredited laboratories to be put in place.
* Local staff, medical officers, industrial associations and the community will be informed about the matter.
"I would like to emphasise the work of our highly qualified and competent staff working in our laboratory at Bega and recognise their level of commitment," Dr McGirr said.
