Long delays, outdated equipment and overcrowded work spaces. This is the harsh reality at the Kosovo Institute of Pathology. Patients there wait weeks, sometimes more than a month, for critical test results.
In Kosovo's overburdened healthcare system, one important department struggling to keep pace with patient needs is the Institute of Pathology.
Every day, dozens of biopsy samples pass through his outdated laboratories, but patients are still left waiting for weeks, perhaps even months.
"It's been about 40 days and they haven't called me. Today I came myself," said a patient briefly, whom the REL team met on the morning of February 20 in the Pathology area.
Biopsy results, under normal conditions, take 5 to 7 business days.
"The wait is very long. It is also worrying, because we do not know what result we will get or how to act," said another citizen that same day, who wanted to be identified only by the name Fatime.
She said that she had submitted the sample for thyroid analysis on January 15th and, 35 days later, it was still pending. The response she received from the health staff was: "It's not ready."
At the Institute of Pathology in Pristina, which operates within the Clinical and University Center of Kosovo (QKUK), 25 specialists in the field work.
They are also engaged from time to time in regional hospitals in Kosovo, namely in Prizren, Peja, Gjakova and Gjilan, which have a shortage of pathologists.
The Institute's director, Merita Hashani - Bacaj, says that within a day, around 60 samples are received for analysis - which also come from regional hospitals - and the same number are processed.
"Poor conditions and overcrowded spaces hinder the individual work of each pathologist. The infrastructure is extremely outdated," says Hashani-Bacaj when asked why the test results are delayed.
According to her, the Institute of Pathology has increased its services and staff over the years, but the workspaces have remained the same.
"Up to six specialists can meet in one workroom," she says, adding that to increase staff performance, "reorganizing the current spaces is necessary."
Hashani-Bacaj also criticizes the outdated inventory and the premises without ventilation.
She says that only one laboratory meets the working conditions, while "other parts of the institute have not been invested in for decades."
But, beyond that, she also notes that some samples that are accepted are not easy to process.
"Some need additional examinations, such as histochemical or immunohistochemical staining, or even additional consultations until the results are finalized," says Hashani-Bacaj.
Asked how long the list of patients waiting for results is, she says she cannot provide figures because the Institute "does not have a computer system" and "everything is recorded manually."
The Kosovo Clinical and University Hospital Service (SHSKUK), which oversees UCCK, says that the renovation and reorganization of the current premises of the Institute of Pathology is planned for this year.
"Currently, the project is in the drafting phase," says the SHSKUK's written response to REL, without any other details.
The Institute of Pathology is not the only one at UCCK that encounters such problems.
In most of this center's clinics, patients often face delays, whether in diagnosis or treatment.
The reasons are mainly related to the lack of staff, medicines or equipment.
Last year, the National Auditor's Office found that the average patient wait at UCCK is almost three years.
Despite the change of governments and promises of reforms, the health sector in Kosovo has been plagued by such problems since the post-war period in 1999. /REL/
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