Anamayah Memorial Hospital laboratory now certified
– urges others to get on board
The Anamayah Memorial Hospital laboratory located at Belvedere, Corentyne is the newest member of the clique of certified laboratories in Guyana.
Through the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), the laboratory was certified to the National Standard GYS 170:2009 “General requirements for the operations of a laboratory”.
This certification allows for the laboratory to be recognised as providing a standard of care and service to clients.
A staff in the Anamayah Memorial Hospital laboratory
The Anamayah Memorial Hospital laboratory first approached the GNBS in 2014, indicating an interest in becoming certified. After a complete formulation of its manuals required by the GYS 170 and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), certification was first granted to the laboratory in 2019.
The Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ian Anamayah stated, “The whole gist of having an institution is to ensure not only [that] you provide a service but to ensure that you provide a standard of care… People coming to the institution would want to know if what they’re paying for has any standard, if it has any calibre. Is it doing the right tests? And are the tests accurate? [But] now having certification puts patients’ minds at ease.”
(L-R) Medical Director at the Anamayah Memorial Hospital, Dr Ryan Anamayah; Quality Manager Raywattie Hoosain and others pose with the plaque received from the GNBS
Given this, he also encouraged other facilities within Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), especially those that are established and provide similar services, to jump on the bandwagon and take the necessary steps to obtain certification so that they can be recognised through standardisation.
Residents of the region usually travel to Georgetown to access quality medical tests from a laboratory certified by the GNBS; with the Anamayah Memorial Hospital laboratory being certified, they now have easy and convenient access to the same standard of quality medical tests they would receive in Georgetown.
The CEO pointed out that the facility encountered some difficulties in its bid for recertification, since there were no certified medical laboratory in the region to do collate (inter-comparison) testing or double check its results for accuracy.
“As it is now, we had to send samples to Georgetown, because there is no one in Berbice that could’ve done that,” he shared.
GNBS Technical Officer Latchman Mootoosammi hands over the certificate from the GNBS to Hospital CEO Ian Anamayah
Dr Ryan Anamayah, who is the Medical Director at the Hospital, noted that having good practices in place alone could not guarantee consistent accuracy and quality results.
“Having the GYS 170 standards in place would have given us an opportunity to actually have our lab consistently reproducing results on a day-to-day basis. Prior to 2014, there were no checks and balances employed,” he said, lauding the GNBS Certification Programme.
The Medical Director noted that with the help of the Bureau, the facility is able to access proficiency testing of its laboratory equipment, which is recommended in the national standard.
Anamayah Memorial Hospital CEO Ian Anamayah poses with the plaque received from the GNBS
It was noted that from 2019 to date, the Hospital has also seen a noteworthy increase in clients with more companies recommending it to perform medical tests for their staff.
Additionally, Dr Anamayah revealed that the Hospital is looking to pursue accreditation to the ISO 15189 Standard to gain international recognition. Citizens are encouraged to use certified laboratories to conduct tests as an independent body – the GNBS— monitors them, and therefore, they provide accurate and reliable results. Other benefits of using the services of a certified laboratory include value for money, the experience of a clear and transparent process; reduced risk of retesting or retaking of samples, and the assurance that employees are trained and competent to conduct tests.
Other certified laboratories countrywide include: Davis Memorial Hospital laboratory, Doobay Medical and Research Centre laboratory, Dr Balwant Singh Hospital laboratory, Dr Leslie Persaud Medical Diagnostic Centre, Eureka Medical Laboratories Inc, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation Medical Laboratory, St Joseph Mercy Hospital laboratory, Woodlands Hospital laboratory, Sheriff Medical Centre Laboratory, Guyana Defence Force Medical Laboratory, Guyana Livestock Development Authority Laboratory, Guyana Rice Development Board Central Laboratory, and Guyana Water Inc Testing Laboratory to name a few.
