Genetic testing needs plan
February 25, 2013
GENETIC testing is expanding
dramatically resulting in an urgent
need for a national policy to gain
more structure, funding and new
positions throughout the country,
according to the Royal College of
Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA).
The comments follow the
conclusion of the RCPA’s survey on
genetic testing, which documents
medical genetic testing performed
during 2011, and looked at volumes
and types of testing available, as
well as the purposes of testing and
sources of funding.
According to the results, close to
580,000 medical genetic tests were
performed across all disciplines in
2011, however despite this figure,
the proportion of tests funded by
the Medicare Benefits Schedule has
changed little since 2006 when the
first survey took place.
“From a functional point of view,
there are major issues to be
addressed,” said RCPA
spokesperson Professor Graeme
Suthers.
“When making comparisons
between states - looking at factors
such as the number of tests done,
the types of tests available, and
also who paid for the tests - we
found that numbers vary
dramatically depending on where
the patient is located.
“Put simply, this is unfair and
untenable,” he added, saying that a
national policy and national
program which addresses these
issues is fundamental to Australia.
At present, there is no national
co-ordination for genetic testing
therefore there is no mechanism
for health practitioners to find out
about testing, whilst most types of
DNA tests are provided by only one
or two laboratories in the country.
“Furthermore in the NT, there are
no accredited medical genetic
laboratories, across the thirty-nine
laboratories that participated in our
study, only eight have genetic
pathologists,” Suthers said.
"If we do not see positions
becoming available in the public
and private sector, in three to five
years, we will not be able to cope
with demand for genetic testing in
this country.
“In the worst case, we could see a
decline in quality and struggle to
maintain Australia's record for high
standards in the delivery of medical
testing,” he added.
Suthers also called for “futureproofing”
of laboratories, with
decisions made as to how genetic
testing should be structured and
how we can fund this increased
demand and new positions.
“Our research shows that the
number of types of tests has
increased by 5% per year, that is,
25% over the past five years, which
means that labs are constantly
growing their test repertoire,” he
said.
“This means that we also need
new staff and new positions for the
new experts that this testing requires.
“In terms of volume, the number
of assays has increased by 25% per
year, that is, 280% over the past
five years.
“This is an extraordinary increase
in the number of tests being carried
out, in both diversity of testing and
volume of testing,” he added.
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