This week, 9 to 13 November, is World Quality Week. It’s run each year by the Chartered Quality Institute, and the 2026 theme is Quality: powering performance.
For a medical laboratory, performance has a plain meaning: a result your doctor can act on the first time, with no repeat and no second opinion needed. Here’s what happens to your sample at Link Labs between the needle and that result.
1. Registration and labelling
Your details are confirmed before anything is collected, and the sample is labelled in front of you. Mislabelled samples are one of the most common causes of laboratory error worldwide, so this step is never rushed.
2. Checking the sample is fit to test
Each test needs the right tube, filled to the right level. A clotted sample for a full blood count, a tube that wasn’t filled enough or blood that has broken down in the tube (haemolysed) can all give wrong numbers. When that happens, we ask for a fresh sample instead of releasing a doubtful result. It’s an inconvenience for you, and it’s still the right call.
3. Quality control before any patient sample
Before patient samples go on an analyser, the team runs control material with known values. If the analyser reads them correctly, testing goes ahead. If it doesn’t, testing stops until the fault is found and fixed.
4. Testing and review by qualified scientists
Tests are run and reviewed by Medical Laboratory Scientists. Unexpected results are checked again, and results that need urgent attention are flagged so your doctor can act quickly.
5. Checks from outside the lab
Accredited laboratories take part in external quality assessment. An independent provider sends samples whose values only it knows, and each laboratory’s answers are compared with the expected ones. It’s how a lab shows that its numbers hold up outside its own walls.
What our accreditation covers
In August 2025, the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria accredited Link Labs to ISO 15189:2022, the international standard for quality and competence in medical laboratories. The accreditation covers chemical pathology, haematology, microbiology and serology, and runs to August 2029. Assessors come back to examine our equipment, procedures, staff competence and records. You can read more in our accreditation announcement.
Accreditation doesn’t mean a lab never makes mistakes. It means there’s a system for catching them before they reach you.
Questions worth asking any laboratory
- Is the lab accredited, and by whom?
- Are qualified Medical Laboratory Scientists doing the tests?
- How are samples handled and stored before testing?
- What happens if a sample isn’t suitable?
A good laboratory will answer all of them without hesitation.
Book a test
Link Medical Diagnostic and Research Laboratories is at 19 Sam Mbakwe Avenue, World Bank Road, Owerri, beside Haven Suites Hotel. We’re open 8am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. If you can’t come in, we can collect your sample at home.
This article is general information and doesn’t replace advice from your doctor. Take your results to a qualified healthcare professional for interpretation.
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