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Planning A Medical Laboratory Department For A 200 Bedded Hospital

The document discusses planning a medical laboratory department for a 200 bed hospital. It outlines that the laboratory should be located on the ground floor near patient care areas and should have sections for general pathology, anatomical pathology, clinical pathology including microbiology, chemistry and hematology. It provides classifications for small, medium and large laboratories based on daily patient load. It describes the necessary functional areas and supportive services like lighting, electricity, floors, walls and emergency equipment.

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165 views

Planning A Medical Laboratory Department For A 200 Bedded Hospital

The document discusses planning a medical laboratory department for a 200 bed hospital. It outlines that the laboratory should be located on the ground floor near patient care areas and should have sections for general pathology, anatomical pathology, clinical pathology including microbiology, chemistry and hematology. It provides classifications for small, medium and large laboratories based on daily patient load. It describes the necessary functional areas and supportive services like lighting, electricity, floors, walls and emergency equipment.

Uploaded by

akinrav
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Planning a Medical Laboratory

Department for a 200 bedded hospital.

Submitted By- Varnika


Laboratory Department planning for a
200 bedded hospital

A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where clinical


pathology tests are carried out on clinical specimens to obtain
information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention of disease. Modern medicine is increasingly dependent
on laboratory services for the prevention, diagnosis and control of
diseases; Medical laboratory services generate patient related
information that enhances care and are an important link in the chain
process of medical care. Fundamental to the process of laboratory facility
planning is an understanding of some basic design principles that ensure
future adaptability. Laboratories must have the flexibility to adapt to
future, as-yet- unknown changes in technology and scientific processes.
Modular design is by no means a cookie-cutter approach but rather a
simplified approach to achieving a wide range of goals in laboratory
design. Medical laboratories vary in size and complexity and so offer a
variety of testing services. More comprehensive services can be found in
acute-care hospitals and medical centers, where 70% of clinical decisions
are based on laboratory testing.

Locations
Laboratory should preferably be situated on the ground floor in close
proximity to the ambulatory and acute patient care areas as well as in-
patient areas.
Departments

In hospitals and other patient-care settings, laboratory medicine is


provided by the Department of Pathology, and generally divided into two
sections, each of which will be subdivided into multiple specialty areas.
The two sections are1:
 General Pathology - involves a mixture of anatomical and clinical
pathology specialties in the one Unit
 Anatomic pathology: areas included here are histopathology,
cytopathology, and electron microscopy.
 Clinical pathology, which typically includes the following areas:
 Clinical Microbiology: This encompasses several different sciences,
including bacteriology, virology, parasitology, immunology, and
mycology.
 Clinical Chemistry: This area typically includes automated analysis
of blood specimens, including tests related to enzymology, toxicology
and endocrinology.
 Hematology: This area includes automated and manual analysis of
blood cells. It also often includes coagulation.

NABL classification

 Small Laboratory: A laboratory receiving up to 100 patients per day


 Medium Laboratory: A laboratory receiving up to 101-400 patients
per day
 Large Laboratory: A laboratory receiving above 400 patients per day
PLANNING PREMISES AND DESIGN
CONSIDERATIONS

The Lab Unit will consist of the following Functional Areas6:


 Entry/ Reception area with patient waiting
 Specimen collection area including patient toilets (this area may also
be located remotely in Ambulatory Care areas); the collection area
shall have a workbench, space for patient seating and hand washing
facilities
 Specimen Reception registration and sorting area
 Laboratories, which may include specialist’s laboratories
 Support areas, including Clean-up, Sterilization area, Storage areas for
reagents, appropriate storage for flammable liquids, general supplies,
refrigerated storage for slides and reagents, disposal facilities for
contaminated waste.
 Refrigerated blood storage
 Staff Areas including Offices, Meeting Rooms, Staff Room, Lockers
and Toilets.
Flow Diagram of Lab Services.
The flow diagram of laboratory services is essential to plan the location
of lab.

SUPPORTIVE SERVICES
Lighting
Natural light should be used for providing the requisite illumination.
Fixtures should be positioned to provide uniform, shadow-free and glare-
free illumination of the laboratory bench top. The light required is as
under
 Reception areas and stores: 200 lux
 Offices: 400 lux
 Working places: 600 lux (1 lux = 11 lumen/m2).

General lighting for laboratories should be fluorescent fixtures.


Fluorescent light fixtures should be directly above and parallel to the
front edge of the laboratory bench to prevent shadows. Essential
equipment should be on emergency power backup systems and
uninterrupted power supply (UPS).
Electricity
The laboratory shall ensure that adequate electrical service is available
so that there is no interruption in power supply that may lead to
compromise of stored data. All computers, peripherals, equipment and
communication devices should be supported in such a way that service is
not likely to be interrupted. The laboratory shall have procedures in place
to ensure the integrity of refrigerated and/or frozen stored
samples/reagents/consumables in the event of an electrical failure. The
use of exposed cables should be minimum.

Floors
It should be of materials that may be cleaned and disinfected easily. Floor
materials should be non-absorbent, skid-proof, resistant to wear, and
resistant to the adverse effects of acids, solvents, and detergents.
Materials may be monolithic (sheet flooring) or have a minimal number
of joints such as vinyl composition tile (VCT) or rubber tile. Floor
materials should be installed to allow for decontamination with liquid
disinfectants and to minimize the potential spread of spills. They should
be acid, alkaline and salt resistant. Seamless or self-leveling Epoxy
flooring is preferable. The load bearing capacity of the floor should not
be less than 500kg/sqm. Labs handling radio-isotope should have 2000
kg/sqm. The vibrating equipment exerts a load of two or three times its
static weight, hence requires a high load bearing capacity. It may be
desirable to have some sections of floor isolated from their surroundings
to prevent vibration from one piece of equipment affecting other
equipment.

Wall
Wall surfaces should be free from cracks, unsealed penetrations, and
imperfect junctions with ceiling and floors. Materials should be capable
of withstanding washing with strong detergents and disinfectants and be
capable of withstanding the impact of normal traffic.
Emergency Showers and Eyewash Stations
At least one emergency shower and eyewash station should be available
in each laboratory. These emergency showers and eyewash stations
should be tapped to the laboratory water supply. When installing showers,
the pull handle should be located in direct proximity to the shower head.
Safety showers should be no more than 25 feet from the chemical fume
hood or other area where corrosive chemicals will be used. An eyewash
station must be readily available in all Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2)
laboratories. When a tissue culture room is located within a main lab
room, the eyewash station should be installed next to the hand washing
sink located inside the tissue culture room.

Emergency Eyewash should have following criteria


 Water remains on without use of hands (hands to hold eyes open)
 Goes from off to on in one second or less
 Large and easy to operate controls
 Delivers 0.4 gal of water per minute
 Water nozzles 33 to 45 inches above floor
 Visible sign
 Checked and flushed weekly.

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