NABH / NABL audit cycle

Plan a year of NABH or NABL internal audits, schedule them by department and location, review and fix gaps, and keep evidence for assessors.

Quality manager (NABH / NABL)AdministratorMedical director / superintendentHead of departmentLab manager / chief pathologist

Accreditation assessors want to see internal audits that run on a schedule, gaps that are closed with evidence, and a trend over time. CareList covers the whole loop: plan → assign → run → review → act → report. The quality manager usually owns it. Every step except running an audit needs a management role.

1. Plan the year

The audit checklists are already installed:

Missing one? Open More → Template library, find it under Your industry and tap Add. The full list of the 33 is in NABH and NABL accreditation audits.

Build a simple calendar first. Most audits run monthly. HR, IT & Information Security, Purchase, Document Control and Information Management run quarterly. The WHO Surgical Safety, Pre-surgery and Post-surgery checklists run per surgery, attached to the patient rather than scheduled.

2. Prepare each audit

1. More → Checklists, tap Edit on the audit.
2. Adjust the questions to your SOPs. Keep Score this checklist on. The pass mark (Pass if score ≥) is already 85–100%.
3. Tick Require manager approval of completed inspections so that every audit is signed off.
4. Optionally add an Attestation statement, for example I confirm I personally inspected each item. The auditor must accept it, and their name and time are stamped on the report. See Signatures and attestation.
5. Keep Published ticked and tap Save.

3. Assign by department and location

1. Make sure your departments exist as locations: More → Campus & Locations (for example ICU, Ward 3, Biochemistry).
2. Open the Tasks tab and tap + Assign.
3. Choose the audit under Checklist (published only) and set a Title (optional), for example NABH ICU audit – monthly.
4. Pick the Location.
5. Under Who, tick the department in-charge or the internal auditor, or choose Or a whole team.
6. Set Due (for example the 5th of next month, 17:00) and Repeat: Monthly. Repeat offers Never, Daily, Weekly and Monthly, so for quarterly audits choose Never and assign again each quarter.
7. Tap Assign & notify.

Repeat for each department. The next audit is created automatically when the current one is completed, and the assignee gets a reminder when it is due within 24 hours and again if it goes overdue. See Checklists and schedules.

4. Run the audit (auditor)

1. Tasks → Start.
2. Answer each item Pass, Fail or N/A. Each Fail asks for a description and photo.
3. Write findings in Observations / non-conformities.
4. Under Auditor, type your full name and sign. Tick the attestation if there is one.
5. Tap Submit inspection.

The audit works offline. Answers are kept on the device and saved when you reconnect, then you submit.

5. Review and approve

The submitted audit goes to More → Approvals, and every manager gets an Approval needed notification. Check the score and the answers, then tap Approve, or write a Note (required to send back) and tap Send back. A sent-back audit returns to the auditor's Tasks to fix and resubmit. See Approvals workflow.

6. Deviations and corrective actions

Every Fail becomes a deviation in More → Deviations (Open, Resolved, All).

• Small, fixed on the spot: tap Resolve and answer How was this resolved?
• Needs work: tap Create action, set Title, Assign to, Priority and Due, then tap Create action. The owner closes it from Corrective Actions with Photo evidence and a Completion note (required to complete).

To raise actions automatically, add a rule in More → Automation (for example A Pass/Fail question is answered "Fail" → Create corrective action). See Failed item to corrective action.

7. Evidence for assessors

Add your accreditation number to Report footer (appears on PDF reports) in Settings so that it prints on every PDF. See Notifications and reports.

Tip: Before an assessment, filter Deviations by Open. Assessors look for overdue, unclosed findings first.