Staff spent their time on tasks such as paperwork and moving equipment during the Government laboratory’s 12-month closure, the Ministry of Health has revealed.The Ministry released a statement explaining what staff did during the period the lab was shut, from November 2010 to October 2011, in response to questions from The Royal Gazette.Part of the time, staff were at home where they completed paperwork such as policy and procedure manuals they previously hadn’t the opportunity to address, said the statement.They were also involved in dismantling the old lab and moving the equipment, supplies and other materials into storage.The closure of the Paget lab became a source of controversy when then-Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson complained staff were left with nowhere to work because the new Southside lab had not been completed in time.Then last summer, patients complained they had to face unacceptable delays for test results because blood and urine samples had to be sent overseas in the absence of a Bermuda lab.The statement said, as well as paperwork and moving equipment, staff spent time working closely with the architects, contractors and subcontractors on the design, layout and construction of the new lab.As the new lab was being completed, they worked to move the items in storage into the new facility and to set up, test and calibrate the equipment.They also worked at other lab facilities to complete whatever analytical work possible, working closely with the Hospital Pathology Lab to send work overseas for analysis wherever possible, according to the statement.