Most of you must be aware that my colleagues and I are building a welfare hospital in Lahore near Minar-e-Pakistan where we have provided free OPD treatment and medicines to almost 300,000 patients over the last three years.
I visit Lahore regularly to hold meetings and keep up with what is happening in connection with the hospital. During these visits we usually hold a dinner for board/trust members, notables and donors. One of those present is Prof Dr A S Chughtai, CEO of Chughtai Laboratories. Originally he was working at King Edward Medical College and then became principal of Central Park Medical College, which he made into a fine institution. Now he devotes all his time and energy to Chughtai Laboratories. To use his own words:
‘This journey started in February 1983 with just three rooms, two technologists, a pathologist and some big dreams. Back then I had no idea where the road would take us. What was once only a dream is now a reality beyond what I could have dared hope for. Today we serve patients all over Pakistan with a network of labs and lab scientists work around the clock to deliver high quality patient care.
‘With more than 20 resident pathologists in four specialities of pathology, Chughtai Institute of Pathology is training a new generation of pathologists to serve Pakistan. Our new head office building is home to one of the largest pathology labs in the country. It is our pleasure to show you how we work and how we intend to set the standard for pathology labs in the country. This could not have been accomplished by any one person alone. It took a very talented and hardworking team and I congratulate every single member of the team. I would like to remind everyone that this building was never our end goal; it is merely a milestone. An amazing milestone, but only a milestone. We have many more miles to go.’
The Lahore Laboratory story started in 1983. Here follows a brief outline of their remarkable growth: 1985: first outreach programme in Pakistan by opening STAT on Jail Road; 1986: a blood bank service with donor screening; 1987: ELISA, hepatitis and hormone testing; 1988: Fine Needle Aspiration service; 1987: renaming of the lab as Chughtai’s Lahore Laboratories; 2000: outreach programme extended to Gujranwala, Okara and Faisalabad.
Then in 2001 automization by the name of ‘Nexus’ developed and installed; 2009: branches opened in Islamabad and Rawalpindi; 2010: bar code sample labelling and tracking enabling two-way interface between instruments and lab software; 2010/11: in back-to-back years an example of community service set during Dengue Fever outbreaks in 2011 over a period of two months. More than 125,000 CBC tests were performed for free or at subsidized rates. ISO 15189 was obtained.
In 2012 the Abbott m2000 automated PCR system was installed. Free home service visits started in Lahore. Branches opened in Bahawalpur and Sargodha; 2013: labs approved for FCPS training in Hematopathology and Histopathology. Branches opened in Peshawar, Larkana, Sukkur and Jacobabad; 2015: labs renamed as Chughtai Laboratories; 2016: branch opened in Karachi; 2018: Chughtai Medical Center and Chughtai Laboratories Sehat Services started; 2019: head office and state-of-the-art facilities opened. Chughtai Lab – One Nation – One Lab contains a central lab, 6 St & T labs, 200 locations, 30 consultant pathologists and 32 resident pathologists.
Recently, a Total Lab Automation (TLA) system was installed at the Jail Road Head Office, Lahore. This System can manage 3600 sample tubes per hour having two refrigerated centrifuges attached with storage modules with a capacity of 30,000 tubes. The system uses a continuous loop conveyer with multiple modules used for loading of new specimens and unloading completed specimens. The output module also performs the sorting of specimens for other testing or storage.
This system will assist in maintaining high test volume and improve turn-around time, while producing accurate and precise test results. This fully integrated, automated system will ensure standardization and deliver faster, accurate results for better patient care and physician satisfaction.
In addition to best facilities and equipment, Chughtai Homecare offers care in the comfort of the patient’s own home. Facilities offered include ICU level care, life assistance care, Sehat services, locally available vaccines and on-demand ones for serious diseases, free home sample collection for lab tests, X-ray, ultrasound, etc. Ambulance services are also available.
These labs not only provide top-class healthcare services, but often patients sent by other doctors for tests, etc are, upon recommendation of that doctor, not charged.
Prof Dr Chughtai and his colleagues are indeed humane human beings. May Allah Almighty shower is infinite blessings upon them all – Ameen.
Email: dr.a.quadeer.khan@gmail.com
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