Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Approximately 77 million laboratory tests are undertaken annually across 44 public hospitals. At present, the annual cost of this service is approximately €470 million. The workload comprises both urgent and non-urgent tests, and a significant proportion of the activity originates in the primary care setting.

An external review of laboratory services was conducted for the HSE by Teamwork Management Services in 2007. The review highlighted limitations in the current organisation of laboratories which impact on quality, turnaround time and cost. In light of the review, the HSE announced plans earlier this year to modernise laboratory services and to introduce significant efficiencies in the configuration and operation of these services. The HSE has already had significant engagement with stakeholders in progressing this initiative. Groups such as the faculty of pathology and the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association will have an ongoing input into the process.

As part of this initiative, the HSE has recently commenced discussions with the National Development Finance Agency about the capital financing of a small number of dedicated "cold" laboratories to process the large volumes of routine patient tests currently undertaken in hospital laboratories. This will include a robust analysis of the cold laboratory business model from a value for money perspective.

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