JEDDAH: The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has ranked the laboratory of the National Guard’s King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh as one of the “best in the world.”

Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan, head of the hospital’s pathology and laboratory sciences department, said the praise is due to the continued “efforts to achieve the highest quality controls, ongoing development to improve services, training of employees and updating materials and equipment used.”

The KAMC’s laboratory also previously received a quality award from Westgard, which said that it was “among the top 10 labs in the world, surpassing many medical labs in Europe, the United States and other developed countries.”

Al-Ajlan was quoted as saying by a local publication recently that the laboratory has been implementing Six Sigma standards, which are the highest quality standards globally.

The KAMC’s laboratory is also set to receive the global EIZO award in the field of medical laboratories next year, making it “the first establishment in the Middle East to receive the award,” he said.

The laboratory received the CAP accreditation in 1986, Joint Commission International accreditation four times in a row, and accreditation from the American Association of Blood Banks since 1986. All awards are issued after regular visits and reviews by global experts and specialists.

The health department at the Ministry of the National Guard has stated that it is committed to developing long and short-term strategic plans to improve the quality of services offered to citizens, focusing on the training and rehabilitation of laboratories and technicians.

With more than 18,100 members, the CAP is the world’s largest association composed exclusively of board-certified pathologists certified by the American Board of Pathology, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American Osteopathic Board of Pathology, or other certifying body approved by the CAP Board of Governors, and pathologists-in-training.