The Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Royal Hospital (RH) has been awarded recently the ISO 15189 Accreditation to be among the first accredited in the region by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). ISO 15189 specifies requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories which are prepared by the International Organization for Standardization.

The Accreditation provides proof that a laboratory complies with best practice. It also offers authoritative assurance of technical competence and scientific supervision of a laboratory to undertake specified analyses or measurements according to validated methods.

Certain management and technical requirements should be adopted to obtain this accreditation. The management requirements represent in preparing the laboratory organization and management responsibilities, documenting details on all procedures, providing prevention measurements to reduce laboratory risks, as well as reviewing and evaluating performance indicators in order to conclude recommendations and solutions and avoid occurrences of incidents in the future.

The technical requirements include compliance with all safety measurements of pre-examination process, fulfilling the training and evaluation of all personnel regularly, and offering appropriate work accommodation and environment. Additionally, the quality and competency of all laboratory equipment, reagents and consumables should be maintained, and the quality of examination results, the reporting and releasing of results has to be ensured on the agreed timings.

It should be noted that this international accreditation is a reflection of the major role played by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in supporting the RH to pursue and achieve the ISO 15189 Accreditation to demonstrate the quality and reliability of its medical services.