It is duty of lab technicians to collect swabs for test: Govt

It is duty of lab technicians to collect swabs for test: Govt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 30.06.2020

Medical lab technicians are qualified to collect samples for Covid-19 test and, in fact, sample collection is one of the very important competencies that such technicians must possess, the Tamil Nadu government told the Madras high court on Monday.

“It is untrue that such technicians are forced to collect Covid-19 samples. Sample collection is a part of their day-to-day duty and they were engaged in the work even before the Covid-19 pandemic,” said director of medical education Dr R Narayana Babu.

Responding to a plea moved by the state government medical laboratory technicians’ association seeking direction to the state to depute only qualified ENT doctors for Covid-19 sample collection, he said such trained technicians who were performing this duty all these years should not have initiated the litigation during a pandemic.

“It is fact that all the trained doctors and post-graduate trainees irrespective of their field of expertise are equally engaged in the care of Covid-19 patients, with all at the inherent risk of contracting the deadly disease. Whereas, the technicians are denying duty to collect samples from persons who are only suspected of having the disease,” the DME added.

Narayana Babu further added that the qualification of such technicians becomes questionable if they state that they lack knowledge of human anatomy. The syllabus and curriculum for diploma, BSc and MSc medical laboratory technology clearly states that they should be fluent with the knowledge of the anatomy of the respiratory tract and various other human organ systems, he said.

Recording the submission, a division bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Krishnan Ramasway adjourned the hearing to July 1for the association to file its reply.