AKUH lab gets CAP accreditation, starts Chikungunya virus screening this month

The clinical laboratory at the Aga Khan University Hospital will start screening for Chikungunya virus this week after being accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), an internationally recognised standard for clinical laboratories, AKUH officials announced.

“The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has accredited the Aga Khan University Hospital’s Clinical Laboratories – the first laboratory in Pakistan. 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,” AKUH Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hans Kedzierski told a news conference.

AKUH officials claim that “with 3,000 CAP requirements, accreditation is a rigorous process”. A team of nine CAP inspectors – prasticing professionals qualified through a CAP training programme -- visited Pakistan last year to audit the laboratory’s quality records, staff qualifications, validation of tests, equipment, facilities, safety programmes and overall management.

According to officials, their hospital is also the only teaching hospital in Pakistan that is also 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. “AKUH Clinical Laboratories has always applied the highest standards of quality and this certification is a manifestation of the same.”

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 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”, he said in his video message played at the news conference at the AKUH on Tuesday.

“From its founding, the Aga Khan University and its hospitals have aimed to achieve international standards in our teaching, research, and care for patients,” said Firoz Rasul, president, Aga Khan University. “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.