The steep fall in the number of pathology tests in first quarter of this FY underlies the fact that the doctors of the hospital are sending patients to private laboratories against the norms.
The hospital data suggest that 73127 pathology tests were done this year while 81148 tests were done in the corresponding period last year which means that 8021 less tests were done this year.
When asked to comment on this Dr Aswal said that the hospital has stopped doing electrolyte tests due to increased cost of reagents. This explanation of the PMS is hard to digest as doctors usually recommend less number of electrolyte tests. It is an open fact that doctors of the hospital recommend tests from private labs in lieu of hefty commissions and the collection agents of these private labs are audacious enough to take samples from the wards of the hospital.