This Institute is the first Govt Medical Institute from North India with very high volume of patients to be accredited under ISO 15189
The Department of Biochemistry, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar has been running 24X7 since the inception of the SKIMS. To maintain quality, the department has always been on the forefront to use services of external quality control from reputed External Quality Control agencies like RCPA from Australia, UKNEQAS from UK Birmingham, EQAS and RIQAS from US. Prof Syed Mudassar, Head of the Department, Department of Biochemistry, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences was very keen in getting the department accredited as per the International Standards for Medical Laboratories. In this connection in the month of April 2019, department invited the quality experts to train the staff and residents for implementation of guidelines as per international standards ISO 15189:2012. It is to mention that the department is already equipped with highly trained ISO 15189 certified staff.
In line with the Quality Assurance of Medical Laboratories, the Department first of its kind undertook a process to get the Institute Accredited for Biochemistry Lab investigations. After relentless efforts from Head of the Department, technical staff and residents for couple of months to follow international guidelines in testing procedures, we were fortunate enough to apply for this accreditation programme. In the month of July 30-31, 2019, the assessment team from the Quality and Accreditation Institute (QAI) evaluated the department for implementation of the requirements of ISO 15189:2012 standard for the scope of testing services applied. The team was fully content with the approach the department of clinical Biochemistry is warranting the precision in testing measures right from pre-analytical to post-analytical stages. This Institute is the first Govt Medical Institute from North India with very high volume of patients to be accredited under ISO 15189. Prof Mudassar while expressing her satisfaction further appreciated the efforts of technical staff, residents of Biochemistry and SKIMS administration for their support. She said it is a matter of pride for SKIMS to get third party accreditation as per international standards.
SKIMS administration reiterated that quality improvement is a continuous process and there will be year wise assessment for such programmes to assess our standing in providing the quality results. In future, other department will be involved for accreditation process as per international standards as soon as possible.