Overview of the laboratory accreditation programme of the College of American Pathologists.

Although Saudi medical laboratories have developed enormously over the past 25 years, the absence of a national body for medical laboratory accreditation has meant the number of accredited laboratories (seven) remains low. Of these, five are accredited by the College of American Pathologists' Laboratory Accreditation Program (LAP)--the 'gold standard' of laboratory accreditation. It requires successful performance in the College of American Pathologists' proficiency testing programme as well as passing on-site inspections carried out by practising laboratory technicians, after which the laboratory is accredited for a 2-year period. This article gives an insight into the current situation of laboratory accreditation in Saudi Arabia and an updated overview of the process involved in obtaining laboratory accreditation from the College of American Pathologists.