Gurgaon: Haryana health department has directed all govt health institutions and laboratories across the state to stop issuing handwritten laboratory test reports after the practice was flagged in some districts.The issue was raised during a Sept 29 meeting chaired by the chief minister on the Health Module under the Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates Programme (CMGGA). The department said it had been brought to its notice that laboratory reports were being issued or recorded by hand in some districts.In an order issued on Thursday, the director general of health services (DGHS) said handwritten reports could lead to errors and misinterpretation of results and were not in conformity with proper laboratory reporting and patient safety standards.The order states, “No handwritten laboratory test report shall be issued under any circumstances in routine practice. All laboratory test reports shall invariably be generated and issued in typed/printed form through the prescribed system/procedure.”DGHS has directed all civil surgeons to ensure that govt health institutions and laboratories under their jurisdiction do not issue handwritten reports as part of routine practice. The instructions are also to be communicated to medical officers, laboratory technicians and other staff involved in laboratory investigations and reporting.The order, however, provides a limited exception for emergencies, technical or system-related problems and other compelling circumstances where a handwritten report becomes unavoidable. In such cases, the person issuing or signing the report will have to give a written undertaking taking personal responsibility for the correctness of the result and for any error or discrepancy in reporting.The department made it clear that the exception is only for unusual circumstances and “shall not be permitted to become a routine practice”.Any deviation from the instructions will be viewed seriously, the order said, adding that responsibility would be fixed on officials concerned for any lapse. Civil surgeons have been asked to personally monitor implementation in their districts.
