Karnataka government has deferred the approval of the Health Establishment Bill recommended by the Karnataka Health Task Force. The bill was intended to bring in some form of quality control in diagnostic centres, private clinics and hospitals. Currently, the diagnostic labs are facing an acute shortage of qualified personnel. The syllabus for diploma courses in pathology needs to be updated and ample practical experience in blood draws are to be included.

There are over one-lakh laboratories in the private sector in Karnataka, out of which 25,000 are in Bangalore. Right now, there is no authority to regulate the diagnostic labs. Medical tests reports are found to often vary from each lab. The labs do not come under the State Drugs Control Department and even the Karnataka health and family welfare department have no say. There are several complaints from the public that doctors and laboratories are hand in glove, stated members of the Karnataka Chapter of the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists [KCIAPM] who have been insisting the Karnataka government to evolve a mechanism to improve the medical diagnostics laboratories, which have mushroomed in the State.

"There are no guidelines and any one can start a laboratory as even the Medical Council of India does not look into the quality of diagnostic clinics. The diagnostic centres are not monitored by any authority whatsoever," said Dr. K M Srinivasa Gowda, registrar, Rajiv Gandhi University Health Sciences and former professor & head of the pathology department, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).

If the private health establishment bill is passed then there will be some quality control. An accreditation system has been proposed to differentiate the standards of the centres, said Dr. H Sudarshan, chief of health, Lok Ayukta and former director of the Karnataka health task force.

Patients accuse on the disparity of the tests costs and are convinced that diagnostic labs and doctors are hand in glove to fleece. The general impression is that the kickback is around 15 per cent to doctors by the diagnostic centres, which is often built into the cost of the test.

Heads of the department of pathology at the M S Ramaiah College and Bangalore Medical College observed that diagnostic charges have gone up by 150 per cent in the last five years despite the installation of modern technology that can bring down cost of tests while it allows faster generation of accurate reports.

According to KCIAPM, there is a lack of trained personnel and quality control norms at most labs across the State. In fact 80 per cent of the labs are breeding grounds for infections. It is mandatory for labs to meet the prescribed standards regarding the space, facilities and trained personnel and should compulsorily be a part of the quality control programme.