After reading Richard IsoSlayer's succinct explanation about the ISO9001 certification is in Malaysia, I took the liberty to write to the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (Ukas) asking for further explanation.

Going by the reply I received, I am further convinced that the country's only public veterinary hospital in question does not deserve the ISO certification given the horrors my late canine companion Mimi 'Qoink' Mae was subjugated to. This was not done by mistake but rather due to lack of competence and commitment.

The lab technicians/assistants had refused to do the necessary blood work for transfusions because the blood sample was sent to them an hour before they closed shop. They went home in spite of the fact that Mimi 'Qoink' Mae had already been cut open by the surgeon.

This is certainly indicative of a serious flaw in the organisation's operations and management system since its staff members had no qualms about sacrificing a life in order to go home on time.

According to the reply from Ukas 'the ISO 9001:2000 standard provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing an organisation's processes so that they consistently turn out a product/service that satisfies customers' expectations'.

Not only was I dissatisfied, but came away from the entire episode with the realisation that the hospital had no regard for the sanctity of my Mimi 'Qoink' Mae's life.

The reply from UKAS also added that 'the aim of the ISO 9001:2000 is to provide a framework for a company to continuously improve, and where mistakes are made, correct them using the management system they have implemented and thus reduce the likelihood of errors occurring in the future'.

This veterinary hospital received ISO certification in 2000 and going from my experience as well as that of others I have spoken with, the services rendered are steadily deteriorating as opposed to improving.

As for Sirim's accountability clause Ukas'email, sent by the organisation's commercial team leader Jackie Burton, said that Sirim is accredited by Ukas and the Department of Standards Malaysia for the current requirements for the certification of quality management systems, namely ISO Guide 62.

However, added Burton, 'this standard is being replaced by ISO17021:2006 over a two- year transition which is due to be completed by September 2008. Both ISO Guide 62 (clause 2.1.2) and the new standard ISO17021 (clause 5.1.1) require a certification to be a legal entity's so that it can be held legally responsible for its certification activities'.

The mail also stated that 'the certification body then must have a legally enforceable agreement for the provision of certification activities to its client'.

From my experience, I can say that this veterinary hospital may not be able to meet the new guidelines by September 2008 since the clean-up job involves a major overhaul in mentality, work ethics and professionalism.

So the next best thing for the hospital to do is to voluntarily give up its ISO 9001 certification for the time being and reapply for the ISO 17021 when it has managed to remove all its warts and finally able to walk its talk.

Otherwise, not only will the hospital find itself in trouble, its declining reputation would also be further tarnished in the event there arises a need for the accreditation bodies to revoke its ISO certification for the hospital's failure to meet the mark.