CAP Accredits Aga AGK's Clinical Laboratories

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Feb, 2017 ) : The College of American Pathologists (CAP), an internationally recognised standard for clinical laboratories, has accredited the Aga Khan University Hospital's Clinical Laboratories , the first laboratory in Pakistan.

The AKU Hospital's chief executive officer (CEO), Hans Kedzierski, sharing details of the accredition with the media here Tuesday said With 3,000 CAP requirements, CAP accreditation is a rigorous process.

A team of nine CAP inspectors - practicing professionals qualified through a CAP training programme was said to had visited Pakistan last year to audit the laboratory's quality records, staff qualifications, validation of tests, equipment, facilities, safety programmes and overall management.

The University Hospital�s CEO stressed that clinical laboratory testing is an essential part of a quality healthcare service. "Since most of the decisions regarding a patient�s diagnosis and treatment are usually based on laboratory test results, for patients, this means timely and more accurate diagnosis." Striving to meet patient satisfaction drives the hospital to constantly review itself for improvements every day," he said.

AKUH was said to be also the only teaching hospital in Pakistan that is accredited by the Joint Commission International, a gold standard in healthcare delivery. "The CAP accreditation is an attestation that AKUH Clinical Laboratories has achieved the gold standard in laboratory medicine," said Shagufta Hassan, Chief Operating Officer, Clinical Laboratories and Outreach Services.

It was claimed that AKUH Clinical Laboratories has always applied the highest standards of quality and this certification is a manifestation of the same. Meanwhile at a debriefing after the audit, CAP inspectors expressed how they were impressed with the standards already applied, which made their work much easier.

"I would like to congratulate Aga Khan University Hospital for being the first CAP accredited laboratory in Pakistan," said the CAP President Richard C. Friedberg in his message to the Hospital community.

"We know that the journey has been the long one, but we are sure and certain that the benefits of our accreditation and your continual desire to improve your services, your performance, your accuracy, your reliability, and your precision, will benefit the patients in Pakistan".

Firoz Rasul, President, Aga Khan University said validation of our practices through international accreditation gives patients the assurance that standards match the best in the world. AKUH Clinical Laboratories is the largest laboratory network in Pakistan.

Besides the main clinical laboratory in Karachi, there are 250 regional laboratories, medical centres and specimen collection units in over 100 cities around the country. With a highly trained team of over 50 faculty and 250 technologists, supported by state-of-the-art automated equipment, the laboratories offer over 700 types of testing overall, 10 million tests annually.