Within 18 months of issuing the health facility license
Dubai Health requires laboratories to obtain accreditation to carry out their activities
The Dubai Health Authority has made an amendment to the medical laboratory accreditation policy in the emirate, which includes stopping the activity of laboratories that fail to obtain accreditation (official medical laboratory evaluation), within 18 months from the date of issuing the health facility license.
The authority stated, in a circular of its destination to all health facilities in the emirate, that the aim of the new amendments is to ensure the highest standards of practice, to provide safe and high-quality medical laboratory services in health facilities licensed by it, and to achieve compatibility with the Dubai Health Strategy 2016-2021, in addition to To ensure that licensed medical laboratories obtain accreditation.
Laboratories fall into four classifications, which include stand-alone clinical laboratories, clinical laboratories within diagnostic centers, laboratories established within hospitals and day-of-day surgery centers, in addition to blood banks.
Dubai Health has obligated health facilities to accredit their laboratories from one of three international bodies, namely: The signatories to the international cooperation for accreditation of laboratories ILAC within the framework of the mutual recognition agreement MRA of the international organization ISO15189, such as the Emirates International Accreditation Center (EIAC) or the American College of Pathologists (CAP While blood banks are accredited by the accreditation bodies of the American Association of Blood Bank AABB.
The authority stressed that it is mandatory to stop medical laboratories that failed to obtain accreditation during the allotted period (18 months) from providing their services to avoid a violation.
According to the medical laboratory accreditation policy, medical laboratories must, upon the expiration of the accreditation expire, undergo a re-accreditation process, and notify the health regulatory sector of the initiation of this process in writing.
The medical laboratory is required to notify the Health Regulatory Sector in writing when withdrawing its accreditation, suspending it, or voluntarily withdrawing it from the accredited body.
The policy stipulates that the health regulatory sector in the authority has the right to conduct an investigation to uncover the reasons for canceling or suspending accreditation, in cooperation with the accreditation body.
Employees of the Health Regulatory Sector, or any other authorized employee, have the right to conduct field visits to medical laboratories, to verify the status of accreditation, and to request documents to support the validity of the accreditation certificate.
The authority warned against issuing a false declaration about the accreditation status, and said that medical laboratories should develop a plan for the continuity of their work in the event of service interruption, while medical laboratories adhere to accreditation requirements.
Dubai Health has identified 3 international bodies and required health facilities to obtain accreditation for their laboratories from one of them.
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