FDA allows Bathinda blood bank to resume work from today

BATHINDA: After facing closure for two weeks, the management of Bhai Shaheed Bhai Mani civil hospital has been allowed to resume work from Tuesday after a team of food and drug administration (FDA) officials found most work satisfactory at the controversial blood bank.

Bathinda drug inspector Gundeep Bansal, who inspected the facility on Monday, said the record room and blood testing machines were found in accordance with the standard operating procedure (SOP). However, the work related to civil construction and certain electrical work is still pending.

“The hospital administration was advised to resume blood bank operations in the strict adherence to the safe blood donation, storage and transfusion. We were told that pending work of the compound under renovation would be completed by this week,” said Bansal.

On December 29, the FDA suspended licence of the staterun facility for two weeks in a case related to infusion of HIV infected blood to patients undergoing thalassaemia treatment.

During an earlier detailed inspection, FDA officials had found that the blood bank authorities did not conduct ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay) test before issuing blood to a thalassaemia patient in October. A

s the blood bank complex has been under renovation for several months, the construction activity had also hampered the following of SOP for safe blood donation.

As the facility was barred from holding blood donations till it is equipped to follow SOP, the health department swung into action to tie up with a local charitable blood bank for free blood units.

The action was initiated after HT highlighted about problems being faced by patients due to the shortage of blood at the civil hospital.

Blood transfusion officer Dr Rajinder Kumar said people can now come to the civil hospital for voluntary blood donations.