Oncopathology lab of SSKM Hosp gets NABL certification

Kolkata: The oncopathology laboratory of the SSKM Hospital has received NABL certification. The certification said that the infrastructure of the SSKM laboratory is much ahead of any labs in government hospitals in eastern India.

The Union Health Ministry has given the certification to the SSKM Hospital which is again a new feather to its crown. Even the cost of diagnostic tests will reduce. The patients earlier had to depend upon outside private labs for critical tests. From now on, the reports coming from the NABL certified labs of SSKM will not only be more reliable but also cost the patients less.

The oncopathology lab is attached to the Cancer Care Hub (CCH) at the SSKM. The accreditation for histopathology and immunohistochemistry is available only in a handful of labs in the private sector in the state. CM Mamata Banerjee had announced in June 2021 the tie-up with Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai to set up the CCH in SSKM. According to sources, this accreditation comes after successful external quality checking by the national cancer grid of Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai for the last two years. About 25 per cent of cancer patients from the state who go to Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai for treatment, will soon be able to avail all the cancer related world class treatment under one roof at the SSKM Hospital. The state-of-the-art Cancer Care Hub (CCH) which is under construction inside the premises of the SSKM Hospital may be made functional from December 2025. A G+9 storey building will be constructed on this government land which will house a CCU complete with the advanced technology and modern equipment.

Besides this ongoing project, a spoke-and-hub model will also be implemented under which the other medical colleges and hospitals which are providing cancer treatment will also act as local hubs and they will be tagged with the SSKM Hospital.