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External Laboratory Quality Assessment
HUQAS is Human Quality Assurance Scheme that provides peer proficiency testing to laboratories so as to enable identification of areas requiring quality improvements. AAR Healthcare Limited laboratories are enrolled in the HUQAS scheme for the purpose of benchmarking and as a requirement by ISO 15189 Standard for laboratory accreditation. The provider also facilitates participants in development of clear root cause analysis in areas where the performance is outside peers agreed limits. This is done through scientific conferencing where participants meet to discuss the previous experiences and organization of specific trainings e.g. advanced root cause analysis among other quality management system topics.

AAR Healthcare laboratories participated in five disciplines which include: Urinalysis, Haematology, Biochemistry, Immunoassays and Malaria diagnosis. From the results there has been a notable improvement in performance from 85% in cycle three of 2015 to 93% in cycle one of 2016. This was an excellent performance given the pass mark is 80%.This achievement was due to marked improvement in internal quality assurance monitoring through daily reporting in standard format following implementation of revised SOPs on equipment maintenance and specimen analysis.

No incident is too minor to report and may range from lack of stationary, drinking water, faulty equipment, falls among others in a workstation. All staff are encouraged to embrace incident reporting since it is a measure to prevent recurrence of incidences. The emailcir@ aar-healthcare.com has also been set up exclusively for this purpose.

Incident reporting

Improving the culture of safety within health care is an integral constituent of preventing or reducing errors and improving overall health care quality. AAR Healthcare has adopted incident reporting with the aim of building an organizational culture of safety. It focuses on having effective processes and teamwork. The focus is on “What” is the problem and not “Who” is the problem!

Taking a step to ensure fire safety at AAR Healthcare

AAR Healthcare Kenya held its first ever fire marshals’ training on the 21st and 22nd of April at Mashpark Hotel in Nairobi. The two-day intensive training saw 39 staff members go through training to officially become fire marshals. The staff members drawn from all the 18 out-patient centers countrywide and head office volunteered for this role. The training, which was done by ICT Fire and Rescue team, was aimed at equipping trainees with knowledge on awareness of the different causes and types of fire, appropriate means of extinguishing fire and the different safety measures that can be taken to avoid fires in multiple settings. The trainees were also taken through the theory and practical parts of how to put out fire and the different responsibilities of the fire marshal. With knowledge from the training, the fire marshals are expected to advise on necessary steps needed to make their respective workstations safe, advise management on the requirements that can be made to prevent avoidable fire incidences and lastly, create awareness amongst their colleagues and clients as well as guide them appropriately in case of a fire drill or in the unfortunate event of a real fire. Training fire marshals was a part of the company commitment to ensure safety in the work place for all employees and indeed clients who visit our facilities.