ABSTRACT
What makes a quality laboratory? A simple answer would negate the necessary consideration for the varied contexts of diagnostic bacteriology. From bedside to clinic to laboratory to reference centre, a spectrum of complexity emerges (Figure 1). Yet, each requires a basic set of ingredients which are fundamental to all operations. Perhaps it is better to acknowledge that the discussion of a particular laboratory in isolation detracts from the reality that all of these diagnostic functions, from simple to complex, are part of a system, and that this system needs to be an effective participant in the provision of patient care. Laboratory function is as integral a part of medicine as any other area. It is the loss of this vision which will isolate the laboratory and lead to its devaluation, and indeed demise.
