The Joint Accreditation Committee-ISCT & EBMT is a non-profit body established for the purposes of assessment and accreditation in the field of haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation. The Committee was founded by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT), the two leading scientific organisations involved with HSC transplantation in Europe. JACIE in collaboration with FACT has established standards for the provision of quality medical and laboratory practice in HSC transplantation; conducts inspections, and accredits programmes that will encourage health institutions and facilities performing HSC transplantation to voluntarily meet these standards; and recognises compliance with standards by issuance of Certificates of Accreditation.
JACIE's primary aim is to promote high quality patient care and laboratory performance in HSC collection, processing and transplantation centres. JACIE is endeavouring to create a standardised system of accreditation officially recognised across Europe.
Accreditation is the means by which a centre can demonstrate that it is performing to a required level of practice in accordance with agreed standards of excellence. Essentially it allows a centre to certify that it operates an effective quality management system. A quality management system is a mechanism to ensure that procedures are being carried out in line with agreed standards with full participation by all staff members. In a cell transplant programme, this ensures that the clinical, collection and laboratory units are all working together to achieve excellent communication, effective common work practices and increased guarantees for patients. It is a means of rapidly identifying errors or accidents and resolving them so that the possibility of repetition is minimised. It assists in training and clearly identifies the roles and responsibilities of all staff. Once the required level of quality has been achieved, the remaining challenge is to maintain this standard of practice. With a working quality management system in place and adequate resources, the fundamental elements necessary to sustain the programme are continued staff commitment and vigilance.
