Laboratory accreditation - where next?

Laboratory accreditation is now well established and can justly claim to have had a beneficial impact on the quality of the services provided by accredited laboratories. However, the needs of laboratories and their customers are continually evolving. It is necessary for accreditation practices to keep abreast of these changing requirements if they are to continue to be of benefit to laboratories and their customers, This paper gives a brief review of current accreditation practice and suggests some changes that should be made to help laboratories meet the demands made on them by their customers.