NEQAPP

National external quality assurance programme Pakistan (NEQAPP) is a system designed to objectively assess the quality results obtained by medical laboratories in Pakistan. The primary aim of this proficiency testing (PT) program is to strengthen standards of clinical laboratories in Pakistan by providing medical professionals with a comprehensive quality and cost effective external quality assessment (EQA) scheme at a national level and to reduce the risk of errors in laboratory results.
This will help provide better patient care and quality results of clinical laboratories in Pakistan along with fulfilling regulatory and accreditation requirements. Erroneous lab results have great impact in delaying appropriate patient care along with increasing cost of diagnosis and management.

NEQAPP program runs in a twelve-month cycle. Samples are sent to registered laboratories on a quarterly basis. Results of a laboratory are judged against a comparator mean of instrument and method, or a pre-determined result as in the case of culture sensitivity for the microbiology program.

The aim of this study is to highlight efforts taken to improve quality of laboratories by inculcating proficiency testing (PT) philosophy through NEQAPP, importance of laboratory PT in medical science and appraise current situation of quality reporting in our laboratories. As such, our study will help all those concerned with medical laboratories in Pakistan and encourage a quality reporting culture according to international standards for better patient management.