Near patient testing in clinical pathology: benefits and implications.

Since the eighteenth century, side room tests for urine sugar protein, and bile salts have been used by physicians for clinical diaqnosis.' With the introduction of venepuncture, complicated blood tests requiring considerable laboratory skill were introduced gradually into clinical practice. This led to the establishment of centralised clinical pathology laboratory services. Further developments in automation pioneered by Skegg 2 enabled faster analysis of routine specimens and higher through-put of data. The result was a logarithmic increase in the laboratory workload which was further accentuated by increasing demand for newer and more tests..4 .5 The routine diagnostic laboratory, being so over-whelmed by these demands, was unable to provide clinically desirable rapid tests as expected by the clinicians. To meet the unsatiable quest of clinicians for more and newer tests, the clinical pathology laboratory services had to depend on regular acquisition of rapid and bigger analysers an expensive exercise for both the health services and the patients with uncertain outcome.