The biomedical lab scientists’ association said Sunday that it had received confirmation from Helsinki University hospital lab CEO Piia Aarnisalo that the worker who re-used discarded needles to take blood samples last week was not a trained medical lab technician.
The association added that according to the information it had received, the individual had been trained in a different health sector discipline.
Last Thursday Helsinki University Hospital HUS disclosed that a worker had used discarded needles to take blood samples from patients on Wednesday morning.
At the time it said that the use of dirty needles may have "theoretically" exposed patients to the risk of contracting infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B or C. It however downplayed the risk of infection, saying that it was "slight".
Concerns about patient safety
The lab scientists union said that in recent years it had expressed concerns about the endangerment of patient safety caused by using individuals other than lab technicians and bio-analysts to take patient samples.
It added that it would continue to follow the probe into last Wednesday’s needle blunders and would be willing to make its expertise available to investigators.
