NABL rolls out awareness programmes for accredited labs to implement ISO 15189:2022

August 25, 2023

The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) has rolled out a series of awareness and training programmes for its accredited laboratories to implement ISO 15189:2022 in their medical laboratories in different regions of the country.

ISO 15189:2022 document specifies requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories. This document is applicable to medical laboratories in developing their management systems and assessing their competence. It is also applicable for confirming or recognizing the competence of medical laboratories by laboratory users, regulatory authorities and accreditation bodies. This document is also applicable to point-of-care testing (POCT).

It recently conducted awareness programme on ISO 15189:2022 ' Medical Laboratories- Requirements of quality and competence' for NABL Accredited Labs at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, in collaboration with Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO) and at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rae Bareilly and Hooghly district. About 85 participants from AIIMS hospital, laboratories, prospective medical professionals, staff, and healthcare industry related professionals participated in this event. In the programme, the participants were made aware about NABL Accreditation and benefits of NABL accreditation.

While delivering her inaugural address, Dr Neeraj Kumari, dean, AIIMS, Rai Bareilly briefed the participants about NABL and the need of NABL accreditation for medical laboratories. She emphasized on the role of laboratories and their contribution in determining quality infrastructure across the healthcare sector.

Dr Kumari further explained in detail about the processes involved in obtaining and maintaining NABL Accreditation in accordance with ISO 15189:2012 and also about the recognition scheme for medical entry level laboratories i.e., NABL M(EL)T Labs Scheme which is based on successful proficiency testing (PT) participation. The participants were explained in detail about the NABL accreditation process. The participants were given an overview of the NABL website and how to use the various sections of the NABL website. The interactive sessions received numerous queries from different domains like medical laboratories, hospitals and from the healthcare providers which were adequately clarified.

As part of the awareness programme at CMC, Vellore, Gayathri S, joint director, NABL interacted with the participants and responded to their queries. The programme started with a welcome address of Dr Lallu Joseph from CAHO followed by the quality manager of CMC Vellore. The technical managers, quality managers and medical laboratory professionals of NABL accredited medical laboratories participated in the programme. Around 61 participants attended the programme and understood from NABL about the requirements of accreditation as per ISO 15189: 2022.

PHARMABIZ.com