Laboratory scientists call for improved medical lab services, accreditation

The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), says there is need to ensure that the quality of medical laboratory services are improved upon, to strengthen health care delivery services.

Alhaji Toyosi Raheem, National President, AMLSN, disclosed that the quality of laboratory results impacted positively on diagnosis of health conditions, which consolidates quality healthcare services.

Raheem spoke at the 2017 Symposium of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) in collaboration with Nigerian Chapter of the Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos.
The theme was “Funding for Accreditation Process in Medical Diagnostic and Research Laboratories in Nigeria’’.

Raheem said: “The quality of a clinical establishment depends on the competences and qualities of its medical laboratories.

“If you have a giant hospital with a deficient laboratory, that hospital will be performing below optimal expectation.

“When the quality of laboratories is enhanced, it facilitates quality diagnosis of patients, whether people that are sick or those out to check their health status.

“So, once you have a very good laboratory in a health institution, the quality of service of such institutions will be outstanding,’’ he said.

The essence of the gathering is for laboratory scientists to look at all the procedures and processes needed to ensure that the qualities of laboratory results are improved upon.
Mrs. Maureen Aniedobe, Chairperson, AMLSN NIMR Chapter, in her contribution, said “A major aim of this gathering is to update ourselves academically, to deliberate on the present happenings in the industry.

“We also have to reposition ourselves to play our roles as laboratories scientists and there are certain decisions to be taken.’’

According to Aniedobe, the association is also seeking accreditation and funding.

“Funding has been an issue for accreditation and that is why funding is the theme of today’s programme.

“To attain this accreditation feat, funding is required because quality is expensive; AMLSN NIMR chapter has a five-star status but what remains is the accreditation.

“There is need to eradicate misdiagnosis and once laboratories get accredited, the margin of error is reduced.

“The minimal margin of error that can be accepted in medical laboratory is one per cent; some people even say it should be zero per cent.

“So, when you do not have those internationally required processes in place, when errors occur, they can go undetected and the effects are grave,’’ she said.

Aniedobe said there were benefits to getting accreditation.

“When you are internationally accredited it means that in any part of the country or outside the country, when your result is generated and presented anywhere in the world, it is accepted.

“This is because there are requirements, audit assessments and conditions to be fulfilled before getting accredited.

“With the accreditation also, doors open; organisations like the WHO will want to collaborate with you because it shows that you are competent,’’ she said.

Aniedo called on the Federal Government, NGOs and corporate bodies to partner with laboratories.

Earlier in his keynote address, Prof. Monday Useh, a professor of medical parasitology, said that an efficient and operational Total Quality Management (TQM) was the way to obtain accreditation.

According to Useh who is from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, University of Calabar, Cross-River state, the training processes involved in becoming a medical laboratory scientist sufficiently prepares them to practice ethically.

He urged practitioners to put in practice an efficient TQM with emphasis on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS), to generate results which are reliable, accurate, reproducible and cost-effective.