Introduction

Clinical Chemistry is among the accredited section(scope)under IEC/ISO 15189:2012 Medical laboratories requirements for quality and competence by SADCAS in 2014 at National Health Laboratory Quality Assurance and Training Centre (NHL-QATC). The following are the accredited test analytes under this section;-

1. Glucose (GLUC)
2. Protein total (TP)
3. Alanine Amino Transferase (ALT)
4. Aspartate Amino Transferase (AST)
5. Bilirubin direct (BIL-D)
6. Bilirubin total (BIL-T)
7. Cholesterol total (CHOL)
8. Uric acid (UA)
9. Urea blood (UREA)
10. Triglycerides liquid (TRIG)
11. Serum Creatinine (CREAT)
12. Albumin (ALB)
13. Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP)
14. Serum Calcium (CA)
15. Alpha Amylase (AMYL)
16. Gamma GlutamylTransferase (GGT)
17. Other tests includes
18. C-Reactive proteins
19. Ferritin (Fer)
20. Iron (Fe)
21. Creatine Kinase (CKL)
22. High Density Lipoproteins (HDL)
23. Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL)

The above test analytes are all performed by using Cobas Integra 400 Plus, a platform from Roche products.
See photos below 

Ordering Clinical Chemistry Tests

Clinical Chemistry at NPHL serves as a back up to all Hospital Laboratories carrying Clinical Chemistry tests in any circumstances such as reagents stock outs, Equipment break down or in high workload situations faced by Laboratories. In this category, samples are expected to be submitted in bulk.
For customers aiming to get Clinical Chemistry test services for research purposes, they are required to come at NPHL management (administration) for table discussion on protocols to handle research samples and entering into Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The requirements and nature of the specimens needed for the tests to be requested are clearly stated in the Sample Collection Manual available at this website.
Note that, for the purpose of provision of accurate and reliable Clinical Chemistry results, the quality of samples is very critical, hence samples with poor quality ( i.e. hemorrhagic, lipemicetc) are not acceptable. Samples verified to have poor quality are not accepted and requires re-collection of new fresh samples.

Processing of the request

Processing of all submitted requests for Clinical Chemistry will be done as per the NPHL technical procedures (available at NPHL only-not included at this website).

Release of results

When sample requests are processed and samples tested according to NPHL technical procedures, a report is prepared. The result report is given to the requester at the reception and the individual collecting the results reports is required to sign on the Dispatch form at the reception as evidence that reports have been collected by the requester.
However, when the requester, by any reason cannot come directly at the reception to collect the results reports, he/she is required to inform the service provider on the modes of results collection (e.g. emails) and required to provide the correct email address through which the results will be sent. Records of this communication will be created upon request submission.
For any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us through the provided contacts under this website.

External Quality Assessment (EQA)/Proficient Testing (PT)

The Proficient Testing (PT) schemes under Clinical Chemistry were stopped from operation since 2013. This was due to challenges on preparation of stable PT samples as the technologies used were poor. PT samples produced at NPHL were not maintaining the stability over the long period of time of shipment lower to testing Laboratories.
Currently the NPHL is under process to resume PT services that will cover various analytes. Testing Laboratories receiving PT samples will be communicated through the appropriate channel. Any other Laboratories willing to participate are required to submit a request stipulating the scope of their tests needed to be enrolled. For more clarification and support, please contact us through the detailed contact information.