Performance Reports
Individual laboratory performance reports will be available to view on the Participant’s Portal in line with the published report timetable. Participants will also be able to view performance tables detailing the assessment of all participants for a particular distribution. Detailed summaries of methodology used by all Participants in each Scheme will also be available to view.
At the end of each distribution year, an annual performance certificate will be available on the Participant’s Portal for each laboratory, detailing your overall performance for each Scheme you participated in.
Performance Criteria
This information should be read in conjunction with the specific assessment criteria detailed for each Scheme in the ‘Schemes’ Menu.
In general, performance assessment for UK NEQAS for H&I Schemes is based on establishing a consensus result for HLA/HFE/HPA/KIR specificities/alleles, antibody presence/absence, antibody specificities or cell/serum crossmatch test positive/negative for all test samples.
Scheme assessment and satisfactory performance criteria are reviewed by the Steering Committee each year and take into account current ‘EFI EPT Standards for Providers’ established by the EFI EPT Committee. Proposed changes in Schemes’ assessment and/or the determination of satisfactory performance are brought to the NQAAP for ratification.
The method used to test the samples is generally not considered during scheme assessment. Schemes are generally analyte driven and different methods should give comparable qualitative results (e.g. Scheme 1B, participants can test using flow cytometry or molecular methods). Where H&I testing methods are known to not give comparable results (e.g. due to differences in test sensitivity) schemes have developed to accommodate this (e.g. Scheme 2A and 2B CDC and flow cytometry crossmatching).
Consensus
To establish the consensus result, 75% or more of participant’s results must be in agreement. If there is less than 75% agreement, consensus is not established and that result is not assessed. Scheme 3 – HLA Antibody Specificity Analysis and Scheme 11 – HPA Antibody Detection/Specification also uses a 95% consensus level for the absence of an HLA specificity.
For genotyping schemes (1B, 4A1, 4A2, 5A, 7, 9, 10) a reference result will be used for assessment in the event that a consensus result is not achieved. For Scheme 8, and Scheme 4A1 (HLA-DPB1 typing) a reference result for assessment will always be used.
Reference typing, will be subcontracted to an EFI and ISO15189 accredited laboratory. In most instances this will be the Welsh Transplantation and Immunogenetics Laboratory, UK NEQAS for H&I’s host laboratory. A laboratory of a Steering Committee member may also be used for a reference result if alternative/additional testing is required.
The Educational and any Pilot Schemes in operation are not assessed.
Non-submitted Results
Participants that have informed UK NEQAS for H&I of a valid reason for not testing EQA sample(s) are marked as ‘Not Tested’ and are not assessed. In these instances, the total number of samples tested on the report is reduced.
Participants that do not submit results without notification are assessed as ‘Unacceptable’. Where a choice of categories for assessment is provided at registration (e.g. HLA loci for HLA Typing or PBL/T-cell/B-cell for crossmatching) all categories must be reported. Failure to report a registered assessment category will result in unacceptable performance.