Allied Health Council to streamline laboratory practices
The Allied Health Council would in November conduct mandatory licensing examination for graduates intending to go into laboratory practice.
Dr. Clement Opoku-Okrah, Head of Department of the Medical Laboratory Technology and Haematology of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said only graduates who had completed their one-year internship programmes will be qualified to write the examination which is practicals-based.
Those who failed the examination would be barred from practicing as they would be deemed not to be qualified for the job.
Dr. Opoku-Okrah said the move formed part of measures to streamline and also ensure a high level of professionalism in laboratory practices and diagnostics which is critical to quality healthcare delivery.
Speaking at the inauguration and maiden national delegates congress of the Ghana Federation of Medical Laboratory Students’ Association (FG-MELSA) in Kumasi, he expressed regret at the impudence with which some unqualified personnel engaged in laboratory practices leading to the proliferation of sub-standard laboratories with its attendant negative consequences on quality healthcare delivery.
He praised the Council for the initiative, saying the current system where personnel were not duly certified for practice does not meet international standards.
The programme was under the theme “Quality Healthcare, Our Priority”.
It aimed at strengthening alliance amongst members of the Federation to enhance its growth and development.
The Reverend Professor John Appiah-Poku, Dean of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, KNUST, appealed to stakeholders to come to its aid to help resource its laboratories and classrooms for effective academic work.
He tasked the students to take keen interest in research in order to build-up their knowledge-base to overcome the challenges in the profession.
Source: GNA