Costs in a clinical pharmacological laboratory.

As a measure of the efficiency of service provided to the Groote Schuur group of hospitals by the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, certain costs were analaysed. The approximate annual cost of routine analytical work was R40 000 $45 000 or 22 000 pounds). The average cost per assy was R9,50 ($11,30 or 5,50 pounds). Closer examination of data showed that the cheapest assays are those done in large batches using an off-line analytical technique such as thin-layer chromatographic densitometry.