Report of the Commissioner of Public Health / Western Australia.

  • Western Australia. Public Health Department.
Date:
[1963]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Commissioner of Public Health / Western Australia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/144 (page 16)
    PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORY SERVICE By Dr. W. Laurie I.—ADMINISTRATION General There is no change in the functions of the service, namely, to provide a combined hospital and public health laboratory service. Branch Laboratories The empty spaces in the North-West are slowly being filled in. New laboratories are almost ready at Carnarvon and Port Hedland. A new branch laboratory is now functioning at Claremont Hospital in Perth. The problems of the branch laboratories remain the same, i.e., heavy and very varied demands on the willing laboratory staff with the senior men working long hours due to staff shortages at junior levels. A ccommodation With the continuation year by year of the growth in volume and variety of work the lack of adequate accommodation in the central laboratories has now reached a stage where it is imperative to consider the building of a new laboratory big enough to house all the laboratory departments and related departments such as the State Medical Photography Department, and the Police Surgeon’s Department. In the mean¬ time, work is being carried on under considerable difficulty, with departments overcrowded and with some sections scattered in temporary accommodation in various parts of the metropolitan area. The present arrangements militate against laboratory efficiency and administrative efficiency. Tours and Conferences Dr. Kovacs has been on a seven-weeks study trip abroad mainly for the purpose of obtaining the newest developments in sensitivity testing and the differentiation of Mycobacteria. During this time he visited amongst others the following Institutes and Hospitals : The Medical Research Council and the Post-graduate Medical School, London ; the City Hospital, Edinburgh ; the Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, Cardiff ; the Statens Serum Institute, and the Institute of General Pathology of the University of Copenhagen ; the Tuberculosis Section of the World Health Organisation, Geneva ; the Istituto Sieroterapeutico Milanese, Milan ; the Istituto Forlarini and the Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome. Whilst staying in Rome, Dr. Kovacs took the opportunity to participate in the 17th International Tuberculosis Conference of the International Union against Tuberculosis where he took part in several discussions. During his trip he met many of the leading scientists in Tuberculosis Research. Mr. Drummond, Principal Technologist, paid a brief visit to the United Kingdon in connection with a police case. While there he discussed blood techniques with Scotland Yard authorities and also V.D. serology techniques with the Whitechapel Clinic. One of the results of his visit has been the adoption here of the new additive method of blood grouping. Working Hours The system of working the laboratories from 0800 hours to 2200 hours daily, seven days a week, was originally begun to meet the obvious needs of the hospital patients but with the continued pressure on space this system has now to be worked as a method of easing congestion on working space. Character of Work The central laboratories were sited originally in the Perth Chest Hospital where much of the work was of a specialised but limited character. In May, 1963 the Perth Chest Hospital became the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, with conversion of half of the hospital beds to general medical and surgical work. This further accelerated the increase in volume and variety of the demands on the central laboratories, a process which will be continued with the building of 100 extra beds now planned for the Sir Charles Gairdner Hos¬ pital. II.—STAFF General STAFF CHANGES—1963 (including Branch Laboratories) Posts Resignations Recruitments Remarks Virologist. 1 Senior Technologist 1 Technologist 6 6 Laboratory Assistants .... 1 2 Laboratory Attendants 8 15 Several for the Branch Laboratories. Clerical 1 1 The staff changes are summarised in the table shown above. The loss of Dr. Perret was particularly felt as she had proved a highly competent officer who had been with the laboratories since the opening of the virus laboratories some years previously.