Pinecrest Healthcare Limited has called for stronger laboratory quality systems in Nigeria to improve the accuracy of diagnostic testing and strengthen patient safety.
The company’s Managing Director, Mr Chidoki Onye, made the call in Lagos while speaking ahead of Pinecrest’s inaugural Quality Assurance Summit, themed “From Bench to Benchmark: Raising Laboratory Quality Standards for Patient Care.”
Onye said quality management in medical laboratories should go beyond meeting regulatory requirements, stressing the need for continuous monitoring and improvement across the entire diagnostic process.
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He said laboratory results play a critical role in clinical decision-making, from diagnosis and treatment selection to disease monitoring and assessment of patients’ long-term health.
According to him, weaknesses at any stage of the testing process could affect the reliability of results and ultimately influence the quality of care patients receive.
“Quality in laboratory medicine must go beyond obtaining technically acceptable results, quality must be considered throughout the entire analytical pathway, from the moment a test is requested by a clinician, through sample collection and transportation, to analysis, result validation and clinical interpretation,” he said.
Onye warned that compromised laboratory results could mislead clinicians, contribute to inappropriate prescriptions, delay necessary interventions and increase the risk of preventable harm to patients.
He urged laboratories to establish quality assurance as an organisational culture rather than treating quality control as a checklist for regulatory compliance.
“The moment we view quality control merely as a checklist for regulatory compliance rather than an organisational culture, we compromise patient safety. People, processes and technology remain the core drivers of laboratory excellence,” he said.
The managing director also emphasised the importance of investing in skilled personnel, effective laboratory processes and modern technologies to improve diagnostic reliability and strengthen confidence in laboratory services.
The summit, organised in partnership with global diagnostics firm Bio-Rad, is expected to bring together medical laboratory scientists, pathologists, healthcare managers and regulatory stakeholders.
Participants are expected to examine systemic gaps in laboratory practice and discuss practical approaches to total quality management, technological upgrades and improved quality assurance systems.
The organisers said the discussions would also seek to promote laboratory practices capable of supporting accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and safer clinical outcomes across Nigeria.
