PETALING JAYA: There is a need to clearly define the scope of services pharmacies can and cannot provide, particularly the distinction between finger-prick screening, venous blood-taking, laboratory testing, diagnosis and treatment, says a doctors’ group.
The Private Medical Practitioners’ Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur has also called for consistent enforcement against premises offering blood-taking services without proper approval.
Its president, Dr Eugene Chooi, said clear guidelines should be issued to all healthcare providers to eliminate ambiguity and ensure consistent patient safety standards.
“Patient safety must be protected through enforcement that is timely, transparent and fair,” he said.
Dr Chooi was responding to a statement from the Health Ministry that operators of premises providing blood collection or phlebotomy services without a licence could be fined up to RM500,000, jailed for up to six years, or both.
“Community pharmacists play an important role in medication counselling, health education and basic screening within their professional scope.
“The issue is clear, blood-taking is an invasive clinical procedure.
“It must be performed within properly registered healthcare facilities, under clear clinical governance and accountability,” he added.
He said such procedures carry real risks and must be carried out by trained and authorised personnel in regulated settings, stressing that there should be no shortcuts, grey areas or double standards.
Dr Chooi said Malaysia does not lack healthcare regulations but enforcement has been inconsistent.
He said the public was now confused after years of seeing blood test promotions in non-clinical settings, which may have created the impression that such services are permitted.
He warned that blood-taking involves infection-control risks, proper patient identification, specimen handling and clinical interpretation, adding that blurred boundaries between screening, diagnosis and treatment could lead patients to delay seeking care or misinterpret results.
“That puts public safety at risk.”
