news updates the article. On Tuesday, CEO Baber Qazi of Unilabs Norway announced that the X-ray giant is terminating the agreement with the Romanian clinic CMT. It happens after news published an article on Monday about Unilabs sending tens of thousands of Norwegian X-rays to the clinic for investigation. In the article, news documented that 16 radiologists for several years scrutinized MRI, CT and X-ray examinations of Norwegian patients in a hidden agreement. – Based on the dialogue with the regional health organizations and the uncertainty this case has created, we have today therefore terminated our agreement with the Romanian clinic, writes Qazi in a message to news. Centrul Medical Transilvania is located in the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Unilabs Norway has now terminated the agreement with the clinic. Photo: Rolv Christian Topdahl After news made the Norwegian health authorities aware of the practice, both Helse Nord, Helse West and Helse Sør-East have asked for an explanation from Unilabs. – We take it very seriously. Unilabs examines around 600,000 investigations annually. Around nine out of ten X-rays are commissioned by public authorities. – As a large and serious partner for the public health service and supplier of health services to the Norwegian population, we take it very seriously that questions are raised about the quality of the services we offer and whether patient safety is safeguarded in line with Norwegian law, writes Unilabs director Qazi. A total of over 170,000 X-rays have been sent from Unilabs in Norway to the CMT clinic. – It is important to us that everyone who uses Unilab’s services is confident that the services they receive are in line with good medical practice, writes Qazi. The Unilabs director emphasizes that no errors or deficiencies have been uncovered in the interpretations and descriptions from Romania. Unilabs Unilabs is a private provider of healthcare services in Norway that primarily offers services in radiology, but also medical laboratory services. In Norway, Unilabs has 294 employees. The group in 2021 was bought by the investment company AP Moller Holding, which also owns the Danish shipping giant Maersk. The seller was the Swiss buyout fund Apax Partners. Unilabs has a total of more than 14,200 employees in 15 countries. During the last five available accounting years, Unilabs has increased its operating profit by 130 percent. In total, Unilabs is left with a profit of NOK 238.5 million in the same period. Source: Brønnøysund registers, Bizweb, Unilabs. Asking questions about pay conditions and patient safety Their largest client is Helse Sør-East, which wonders why Romanian doctors without Norwegian approval have contributed to the work of examining Norwegian X-rays. They had nothing to do with that, says the country’s largest healthcare company. – All examinations must be scrutinized, described and signed by a radiologist with Norwegian authorization and Norwegian specialist approval, and also named in the staffing lists we receive, says Lars Eikvar, department director for research and diagnostics at Helse Sør-East. When Helse Sør-East first contacted Unilabs Norway about the matter, they were told that the group used radiologists from abroad to a “very limited extent”. Furthermore, Unilabs stated that the radiologists had Norwegian specialist approval and Norwegian authorization as a doctor. Therefore, department director Lars Eikvar was surprised when Unilabs admitted the opposite in an e-mail to news, with Helse Sør-East on copy: A number of radiologists without authorization or specialist approval in Norway were involved. In a letter news has gained access to, Helse Sør-Öst demands an answer from Unilabs: How many examinations of patients from Helse Sør-Est have doctors without Norwegian approval helped to investigate? How and why has health information from Norway been shared with the Romanian doctors? What kind of employment agreement does Unilabs have with the Romanian clinic, and why has Unilabs not told Helse Sør-Öst about this? What salary and working conditions do employees have at the Romanian clinic? How has Unilabs followed the rules for processing personal data and the norm for information security in the health and care sector? In 2023, Unilabs and Helse Sør-East have an agreement that Unilabs will carry out around 350,000 X-ray examinations for the public sector. Lars Eikvar, department director for research and diagnostics in Health South-East. Photo: Katarina Theis-Haugan – We don’t think anything of this In news’s article it appears that the subcontractor to Unilabs systematically used interpreters who could translate the Romanian radiologists’ reports into Norwegian. Helse Vest’s professional director Bjørn Egil Vikse thinks it is problematic that Helse Vest does not have control over the competence of the unauthorized radiologists in Romania, and that they do not know Norwegian. – A description of an image is largely about language. When the radiologists have to use a single language because the interpretation has to be translated, we are concerned about whether that language describes the findings well enough, says Vikse. Subject director Bjørn Egil Vikse at Helse Vest is aware that Unilabs’ use of radiologists in Romania is not in accordance with the agreement. Photo: Rolv Christian Topdahl / news The subject director believes that systematic use of a subcontractor in Romania is not a good way to run an X-ray institute. Helse Vest should have been notified of this, notes Vikse. – We don’t think anything of this. We do not know anything about the competence of those who have looked at the images, and we feel that we have little control over this investigation, says Vikse.
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Unilabs ends controversial Romania deal after news revelation – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
