PineCrest Healthcare Ltd has scheduled its inaugural Quality Assurance Summit for October 10, 2026, in Lagos, with a call for stronger commitment to laboratory quality standards and patient safety in Nigeria.
The summit, themed “From Bench to Benchmark – Raising Laboratory Quality Standards for Patient Care,” will bring together medical laboratory scientists, pathologists, clinicians, laboratory managers, regulators, healthcare administrators, academics and other stakeholders in the healthcare sector.
Addressing a press briefing on the summit, the Chief Executive Officer of Pinecrest Healthcare Ltd, Dr. Chijoke Onyia said the event, which forms part of activities marking PineCrest Healthcare’s 20th anniversary, is aimed at examining existing gaps in medical laboratory quality assurance and exploring practical approaches to improving diagnostic accuracy, reliability and patient safety.
He added that laboratory quality must go beyond merely obtaining test results, stressing the need for continuous measurement, monitoring, improvement and demonstration of quality throughout the diagnostic process.
The company boss noted that laboratory results play a critical role in diagnosis, treatment decisions, disease monitoring and assessment of patient outcomes, making accuracy and reliability essential to effective healthcare delivery.
Key areas to be discussed at the summit include quality assurance in modern laboratory practice, the role of people, processes and technology in laboratory excellence, quality beyond compliance, and practical illustrations of external quality assurance and proficiency testing.
He also called on governments at the national and sub-national levels, regulatory agencies and other stakeholders to declare a “state of emergency” on quality assurance in medical laboratory practice in Nigeria.
It urged governments to provide adequate resources for laboratories to implement robust and globally acceptable quality assurance protocols, while regulatory bodies should ensure compliance with required minimum standards.
The company stressed that quality assurance should become a culture rather than a checklist, noting that every laboratory result represents a patient whose treatment and clinical outcome could depend on its accuracy.
The hybrid summit will hold from 11:00 a.m. at Welcome Centre Hotel, International Airport Road, Lagos, with virtual participation also available via Zoom.
