For the second consecutive time, the 661 Nigerian Air Force Hospital laboratory (661 NAFH), Ikeja, Lagos State has again won the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15189:2012 accreditation certificate for quality management systems and excellent service delivery.
Chief of air staff (CAS) Air Marshal Oladayo Amao received the award at the NAF headquarters in Abuja from the registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), Dr Tosan Erhabor.
The laboratory is among the first facilities in Nigeria to embrace quality management system for about 20 years. It was also awarded five-star status in 2011 by the MLSCN. Also, in 2013, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine using the World Health Organization’s African regional office checklist also graded the laboratory five-star rating. In 2016, the laboratory became accredited to ISO 15189:2012 standard making it the first among three laboratories in Nigeria to become accredited to ISO 15189.
While presenting the accreditation certificate to Amao, Erhabor noted that the 661 NAFH laboratory was the first to be accredited in 2016 thereby blazing the trail in quality management systems for others to follow. “The facility was also the first in the entire military to key into ISO 15189 which, as we all know, is the hallmark of quality. The accreditation also indicates that NAF is committed to doing the right thing even when no one is watching, this is commendable,” he said.
Erhabor used the opportunity to encourage Amao to go a step further in his commitment to quality and excellent service delivery by ensuring that other NAF facilities across the country key into the quality management system. He stated further that the gazette on national quality infrastructure was recently released, indicating that the issue of quality is now being taken seriously at the highest level of decision making in the country. He commended the pivotal role gallant personnel of the NAF have continued to play in the fight against insurgency, armed banditry and other forms of criminality in the country.
In his remarks, the CAS stated that the NAF appreciates its collaboration with MLSCN especially in the standardisation and improvement of NAF laboratories. He also disclosed that the NAF was making efforts to ensure provision of competent personnel, appropriate facility, equipment and regular supply of reagents among other inputs for other laboratories. In the same vein, the CAS stated that the NAF is currently upgrading and equipping laboratories with modern analyzers while also ensuring that medical personnel as well as medical laboratory scientists benefit from regular training, both local and foreign.
“Very soon, the NAF School of Medical Sciences and Aviation Medicine will admit students for technician courses, including medical laboratory technicians. This is in line with one of the key drivers of my Vision, which is to “pursue purposeful training and human capacity development,” he said.
