Background: Laboratory diagnosis in Indian health-care setup is usually the mainstay of screening and diagnosis of diseases. Accreditation is a process of approval by establishing adherence of pre-defined quality standards to the existing system which can bring about utmost quality in service delivery by increasing accuracy and reliability and minimizing errors. Need for accreditation is ever-increasing in public sector health-care centers.
Aim and Objectives: To ascertain and to quantify the impact of accreditation via training and exposure in the cadre of laboratory technicians in tertiary care public sector hospital.
Materials and Methods: It was an interventional study to check competency of laboratory technicians in various domains of NABL standards, before and after training and exposure to accreditation process. It was carried out amongst MLT students and employed laboratory technicians in the clinical biochemistry department of a public sector, tertiary care, teaching hospital and lasted for 2 months. Preformed questionnaire was used. Difference between pre- and post-test results was compared with appropriate statistical analysis.
Results: Marked difference was seen in the performance of study subjects before (27.6 ± 9.9) and after (56.7 ± 6.2) exposure to training and accreditation process (Max. score of 80). Average gain was 37.5%. The difference was highly significant for each domain. Domains of pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical procedures saw the highest difference. There was a significant difference in competence gain between student lab. techs. and employed lab. techs.
Conclusion: Benefits of accreditation are immense, yet it is a voluntary process in our country. Strict adherence to already laid out standards and protocols at national level can be achieved by continuous sensitization and capacity building. Public sector laboratories need to gear up and embrace this need. The same should also be incorporated effectively in the curriculum of laboratory technician students.
Key words: Accreditation; Quality Standards; Knowledge; Awareness
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