Implementation of Laboratory Quality Management System and Its Challenges in Public Hospitals in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

ack ground: Quality management system is continuously analyzing, improving, and re examining of resources, processes and services within a healthcare and its serve to document processes and procedures that allow a laboratory to the benchmark and measure the level of quality which indicates service that meets too the standards. Objective: To assess the implementation of laboratory quality management system and its challenges in public hospitals in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia, 2022. Methods: Public health facility based cross sectional descriptive study was implemented from November 2021 to January 2022, by using quantitative and qualitative study design to assess laboratory QMS implementation and its challenges in public hospitals in Jimma Zone. The quantitative data were collected by WHO-AFRO SLIPTA checklist auditing laboratories and laboratory professionals working in that hospital’s by using self-administered questionnaire. The qualitative data were collected by using key informant interview from purposely selected key informants of the five hospitals in Jimma zone. Result: In this study, 99% questionnaires were responded by laboratory staff and 91.4% key informants from five hospitals were included. The current laboratory QMS implementation status in public hospitals was averagely 76.6%. From those hospitals only Jimma university medical center laboratory was scored 87%, that rating to 4-stars and accredited against EAS that certified in single GeneXpert test since 2019. In this study routine workload, poor equipment quality management, shortage of laboratory supplies, inconsistent mentorship and training, and low attention to quality among the challenges were identified in study area. Conclusion and recommendation: The study finding showed that the laboratory personnel had information and participation in implementing of laboratory QMS. The overall findings illustrated that there is a need for health facilities resource management and should set a specified budget for laboratory QMS in the hospitals. The hospitals management bodies are better position to understand the importance of laboratory QMS in their hospital and support it for better laboratory auditing outcome for improved health care delivery