FJMU ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE-2023 PRE-CONFERENCE SYMPOSIUM TITLED “GUARDING HEALTH: NAVIGATING LAB ERRORS FOR PATIENT SAFETY IN PRE-ANALYTICAL PRACTICES

A pre-conference workshop on “Guarding Health: Navigating Lab Errors for Patient Safety in Pre-analytical Practices” was held on December 14, 2023, organized by Department of Biochemistry at FJMU.

The objectives of the workshop included:

1. To disseminate awareness of pre-analytical errors in laboratory testing amongst healthcare professionals.

2. To learn the skills of standard phlebotomy procedures.

A total of 42 participants, comprised of doctors and nurses, attended the workshop in the DME conference room. They took great interest in gaining knowledge and learning the skills of phlebotomy procedures. The workshop was convened by Dr. Noor-ul-Ain Waheed, Head of Biochemistry Department, FJMU, who gave an explicit introduction to the workshop, highlighting the prompt demand for awareness of pre-analytical errors amongst doctors and nurses based on her two studies published in the Annals of KEMU in the year 2019. She expressed her gratitude to the worthy VC, FJMU, for having always been kind, supportive, and facilitative in organising such workshops that proved to be effective for the learning of participants.

The workshop was facilitated by eminent figures in the specialty of chemical pathology, i.e., Prof. Asim Mumtaz, working at Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore, and Prof.Tahira Naseem, Head of the Biochemistry & Chemical Pathology Department, Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex, Lahore. Both esteemed chemical pathologists highly appreciated this initiative to organize such a useful workshop for healthcare professionals that would be considered as a great effort to minimize errors in lab results. They also emphasised the need to address this issue on every level.

The hands-on training component of the standardized phlebotomy procedure was facilitated by Mr. Rehan Hafeez, who is an experienced professional in Medical Lab Technology, working as Regional Manager. He demonstrated efficiently the use of an evacuated system, the selection of appropriate vacutainers, and the proper handling of blood samples.

Worthy Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Khalid Masood Gondal graced the session as Chief Guest and shared his experience regarding errors in lab results, highlighting the role of clinicians in history taking and examination of patients and how we can play a significant role in eliminating errors in lab results. At the end of the session, a worthy VC of FJMU distributed shields/souvenirs among the facilitators. Principal FJMC, Prof. Noreen Akmal, and Director QEC, Prof. Bilquis Shabbir, were also accompanied by the worthy VC of FJMU to join the session and appreciated the step to organize such workshops, which is the need of the hour. Moreover, Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Prof. Dr. Nakhshab Choudhry, joined the running session as Guest of Honour, and he was presented with a souvenir by Worthy VC, FJMU.