Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-01-02

Implementation of a National Accreditation Scheme for Medical/Clinical Laboratories and Healthcare Service Providers

- The function of the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board is to grant accreditation, after an assessment that the Medical/Clinical Laboratories functioning in Sri Lanka are in accordance with the accepted international standards. A proposal has been made to commence a new accreditation process for the institutions that provide the services for hospitals and health care services, considering the demand for accreditation related to the field. Under this programme, it is due to cover the customer care, the patient's rights and education, medication management, infection control, safety of facilities, training etc., pertaining to a hospital and improve the accreditation criteria and procedures in line with the national and international standards. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Susil Premajayantha, the Minister of Science, Technology and Research, to implement a national accreditation scheme jointly with the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, with the objective of enhancing the standards of the Medical/Clinical Laboratories (Public and Private) and the registered private medical institutions, was approved by the Cabinet.