Lab scientists warn cutbacks will hit patient services

MEDICAL scientists working at public laboratories have warned that further cutbacks in healthcare funding could have a damaging effect on services to patients.

The Academy of Medical Laboratory Science yesterday expressed concern that significant investment was still needed to ensure Irish laboratories had proper accreditation to carry out testing.

Speaking at the start of a two-day BioMedica 2008 conference — organised by the academy in Dublin yesterday — president Kevin O’Connell said only 3% of Government funding for health was spent on laboratories, despite the fact that pathology tests played an important role in 70% of all clinical diagnoses.