Lab at Axarquia hospital needs more staff who are overloaded with tests required for coronavirus patients

THE CSIF union representing hospital staff claimed that Axarquia Hospital’s laboratory is “saturated” with work.
“Technical personnel are at present having to put up with an unsustainable workload,” the union said.
The unit has incorporated new techniques in recent months but this has not been accompanied by more staff to carry them out, CSIF pointed out.
In addition to this situation, there is also demand for tests to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus which is responsible for the pandemic.
This service includes analysing samples that the laboratory receives from health centres, care homes for the elderly and the hospital itself.
At present the laboratory, which has a staff of 30, carries out 170,000 analyses each month.
According to CSIF, the laboratory needs at least three more technicians as well as a microbiologist to meet the demands for analyses which have multiplied during the coronavirus crisis.
At least laboratory employees have now been provided with one-use uniforms, CSIF announced. These are essential when they are working every day with samples of pathogenic biological agents, including the coronavirus, the union said.