Poor hygiene leads to closure of Cama hosp blood bank

MUMBAI: The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Friday ordered the blood bank of the government-run Cama and Albless Hospital at Fort to stop collecting blood due to unhygienic conditions.
An inspection carried out in May by a high-level team, including officers from the Centre, found that the air-conditioning system in the blood storage room was not fully functional and had cement particles.Moreover, there was no certified blood transfusion official on duty as required under the law; the other officers in the hospital hadn’t yet got their FDA-approval letter.
The team also found that blood testing kits were not stored under ideal temperature and records, too, were not properly maintained. The inspection report was submitted to the state FDA in June last week, leading to Friday’s stop-work notice.
However, Cama Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Rajashtri Katke told TOI that only collection of blood had stopped for a day. “We sent a compliance report to the FDA on Saturday morning itself and an inspection is already underway. We should be functional soon,” she added.
FDA joint commissioner S T Patil confirmed that Cama Hospital has submitted the compliance letter. “We sent our team on Saturday evening to verify the compliance report. Their report will be submitted in a day or two,” he added.
In 2012, the FDA had suspended the licences of two blood banks of Jaslok and Sion Hospitals respectively after both gave wrong blood to patients. tnn