LABORATORY SERVICES IN KORLE BU
Did you know that Korle Bu is the leading national referral center in Ghana?
Hence, all healthcare cases that cannot be dealt with in other health facilities are most likely to be transferred to Korle Bu. For in-patients, out-patients, and referred cases from other clinics, hospitals, and other health facilities, laboratory services in Korle Bu are handled by the Department of Central Laboratory Services with its satellite laboratories also known as The Laboratory Sub-BMC.
Being arguably the biggest hospital in West Africa and the third largest on the African continent, Korle Bu sees a lot of people who come in to patronize their healthcare services (including their laboratory services) as part of meeting their total healthcare needs. It is believed by many that, for a comprehensive healthcare solution, Korle Bu is the place to go and the laboratory services in Korle Bu can stand up to the bests of standards required anywhere and rightly so. Being the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of Ghana and also the biggest teaching hospital in the nation - compared to other teaching hospitals in Ghana (Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ho Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi) and affiliated with the medical school of the University of Ghana, Korle Bu boasts of arguably the bests of personnel and machinery so far as general or specialised healthcare delivery and the disbursement of laboratory services are concerned.
ON OFFER AT KORLE BU CENTRAL LABORATORY
Operating a 24hour service all days of the week plus public holidays, patrons of the laboratory services in Korle Bu are assured of a modern, well-equipped diagnostics facility nestled at the center of the hospital. Highly trained personnel professionals - Biomedical Scientists, Technicians, Residents, experienced Consultants as well as support service personnel are at post to man and run the facility to ensure expert, comprehensive analytical, diagnostic and advisory services are made available (in real time too) in chemical pathology, haematology, microbiology and immunology.
Chemical pathology (also known as clinical biochemistry) deals with the biochemical inquest into body fluids such as blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid. Diseases can be diagnosed and monitored by discovering how and where the body’s chemistry has changed. Laboratory services in Korle Bu in this area can tell whether a patient’s organs are working as expected, diagnose ill health (or otherwise) and recommend appropriate treatment.
Haematology tests delve into how blood can affect general health or cause diseases. In studying the blood, tests are carried out on the blood, protein in the blood and organs that produce blood, etc. A variety of blood condition may be deduced from these tests: infections, inflammation, anaemia, blood-clotting disorders, et cetera may be discovered and appropriate medical response recommended.
While many microbes are harmless to humans, others can cause serious problems - from spoiling food, introducing toxins to causing disease that lead to a host of other problems. The importance of microbiological testing is to quickly identify these contaminants and treat them before they cause irreparable damage.
Immunology is a branch of medicine and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, etc. The immune system, being the body’s defense system, protects our body cells, tissues and organs from infections through various lines of defense. In the case a person’s immune system isn’t robust; the body can be susceptible to attacks from common flu and fever, to more dreadful diseases like autoimmunity, cancer, AIDS, etc. Immunology tests available to persons who patronise the laboratory services of Korle Bu would reveal the condition of their immune system and look out for disorders to be corrected.
A STITCH IN TIME…
Providers of the laboratory services in Korle Bu understands the value of time in making reports available for necessary medical use, hence they strive to ensure a target of about 80% of routine requests are processed within three hours of receipt by the laboratory and the test results made ready for collection by patrons. Structures and procedures have also been set up to meet deadlines for reporting of urgent analytical request quickly yet so efficiently.
NOT JUST LABORATORY SERVICES
With a sterling vision to become a center of excellence in laboratory diagnostic services and the most preferred point or facility in medical laboratory services within the West African sub region and a poignant mission of working in collaboration with their satellite laboratories to provide the highest quality of timely and efficient laboratory services as well as ensure excellence in teaching and research, there are educational and training programs run for staff aimed at improving the quality of laboratory services in Korle Bu so their teeming patrons that throng the facility will have their money’s worth. At the central laboratory, research projects are also embarked on by staff or jointly with other institutions to shore up their wealth of knowledge in the practice of their professional calling. Indeed, worth mentioning is the fact that, medical students, allied health science students and resident doctors went through the department for their practical training.
ABOUT KORLE BU
Founded on October 9th, 1923, Korle Bu teaching hospital has grown from its small beginnings into a great national asset. Korle Bu, meaning the valley of the Korle lagoon was started as a general hospital to address the health needs of the indigenous people under the administration of Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast. The demand for the hospital’s services had grown so high by 1953 that expansions had to be carried out which resulted in the construction of the maternity, medical, surgical and child health blocks. This shot up the 200 initial hospitals bed capacity to a screaming 1,200. When the University of Ghana Medical School was established for the training of medical doctors in 1962, Korle Bu gained her teaching hospital status.
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