Members of the The Bahamas Association of Medical Technologists (BAMT) yesterday expressed their fear that National Health Insurance (NHI) Secretariat policy proposals may endanger Bahamian lives. That fear is driven by the fact that the secretariat has advised doctors to "import instrumentation to begin lab testing in their offices" by what the association deemed "unqualified staff members".

President of the BAMT Harriet Gardiner - advised of the secretariat's outreach to physician offices to "import instrumentation to begin lab testing in their offices by unqualified staff members" - said the concern arose because many of these tests involve a range of difficulty which require respective skills and training. Those complex tests can expose a new level of risk that may result in medical dilemmas, morbidity, or organ failures if assurance of the quality in test procedures is absent or compromised. It is suggested that only appropriately trained healthcare professionals be appointed to perform these tests.

With respect to the tests known as "Point of Care tests" (POCT) - to be performed by patient care technicians, phlebotomists, and physicians - while many have minimal requirements, some of the tests are considered complex tests where substantial errors may result, and thereby these tests require proper standards and licensed personnel focused on ensuring quality in the testing of all samples.

The College of American Pathologists' Quality Management Checklist states the testers must ensure the validation of equipment, external quality controls, and proof of training. The BMAT "wants to ensure that the proper framework is implemented for the provision of appropriate POCT to protect staff and patients, as well as to ensure that all moderate testing is done by certified licensed laboratory technologists as per the legislation of the government of the The Bahamas". Former chairperson of the BAMT Bonnie Culmer reported to the Guardian Business that BAMT strives to achieve "quality management" to avoid setbacks in the compliance of labs in The Bahamas.

In 2004, the European Union (EU) project assesment of labs in the Caribbean region, including The Bahamas, showed that "seventy-five per cent of labs do not have staff assigned to oversee quality" along with the same percentage of individuals without "documented bench training". Culmer agrees that this is not a state that the Bahamas would like to re-visit. Harriet Gardiner also shares her thoughts on the EU report in stating that "we don't want to be dragged back to where we were fifteen to twenty years ago".

The president added that "we support the implementation of NHI, and as members of BAMT, we want to ensure standardization, and accuracy in all lab testing".

"We have a strong viable healthcare system in The Bahamas and we want to ensure a continuance of a high standard of quality in all laboratory services that our patients have become accustomed to," Gardiner said.

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