The original article can be found in: Trinidad Express By Camille Bethel
Plans are being made to set up a mobile histology lab at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope as the lab remains closed for much-needed refurbishment work, Minister of Health Dr Fuad Khan said on Tuesday.
The lab was closed last month after workers complained they were being affected by chemicals in the lab due to poor ventilation there.
Speaking with the Express following the launch of the Ministry’s National Wellness Day, Khan said, “The ventilation area has been fixed. OSH (Occupational Safety and Health officers) at the ministry has taken a look at it, and they are still fixing the lab.
“They have been directed to fix the lab properly, but what they really need to do is to refurbish the whole lab—the histology as well as the normal lab. So that is being looked at and it has been placed in the budget.”
He said he was not sure at this point what it would cost because initially, they had to bring in a consultant from the ministry to examine the scope of works.
“And then, they cost it. So I won’t know the exact cost right now, but what we are also looking at is a mobile lab. So we can have a mobile lab while that is being fixed. We are trying to make things as comfortable as possible for the workers,” Khan said.
Khan added that patients at the eye clinic who have been waiting for months to be seen can soon expect better service.“I have done a full audit of the eye clinic at the EWMSC and the ophthalmological surgery, etc, and what I have found out verbally is what can be done to make it more accessible for patients to get better service,” he said.
“So I am waiting on the audited report which should be soon because they finished last week; they just have to write it up,” he said.
