Bungoma District Hospital Laboratory, Kenya
From left: Robert Mose (Hospital Health Administrator); Joan Wasike (Laboratory Manager); Beatrice Lungai (Laboratory Supervisor); Phidelis Maruti (Laboratory Quality Manager); Dr. Sylvester Mutoro (Hospital Medical Superintendent)
- What was the hardest thing to do in order to get accredited?
- Development of documents.
- Changing staff attitudes and fostering a culture of quality.
- Process control and method validation.
- Root cause analysis.
- What was the easiest?
Improvement associated with Facility and Safety (one of the 12 sections in the SLIPTA checklist).
- What was the most important contributing factor to getting accredited?
- Involving hospital management; identifying and engaging other stakeholders like procurement unit, maintenance unit, and nursing staff.
- Commitment and team work.
- A change of staff attitude.
- Monitoring through regular internal audits.
- What steps did you take?
- Step 1 : Organized the laboratory, re-arranged the workstations, and removed clutter.
- Step 2 : Developed the system (policies and procedures).
- Step 3 : Trained staff personnel on the policies and procedures.
- Step 4 : Monitored the implementation through scheduled internal audits.
- Step 5 : Recognized personnel who adhered to the developed system/standards.
- Step 6 : Reviewed the system to fix the gaps and implemented improvement projects to improve the system.
- Step 7 : Applied for accreditation.
- Step 8 : Continued with internal audits and improvement projects to maintain the standards.
- What were the biggest mistakes you made?
- Forgetting that mentorship and support provided by the partners could end.
- At first not identifying personnel capabilities and utilizing them.
- What is the best advice you can give to others?
- Involving the top management, identifying your stakeholders, defining time commitment, and using a priority matrix are crucial in achieving and maintaining accreditation.
- Planning and monitoring the progress is key!