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Home UK NEQAS for H&I Staff
Current Positions:
  • Chief Scientific Officer for the Welsh Blood Service
  • Chief Scientific Officer for NHSBT, Organs Tissues Donation and Transplantation (OTDT)
  • Director of UK NEQAS for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics
Professional Career:

Dr Tracey Rees is a Consultant Clinical Scientist.  She is the Chief Scientific Officer for NHSBT-ODT and in this national role provides expert advice on matters relating to Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (H&I) and the use of H&I information in allocation and transplantation. She is also the Chief Scientific Officer for the Welsh Blood Service (WBS).  In this role, she leads a team of around 150 Healthcare Scientists providing a broad range of scientific and clinical services for transfusion and transplantation. Transplantation services are provided by the Welsh Transplantation and Immunogenetics Laboratory, which supports local kidney, pancreas and blood stem cell transplants and operates the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry supporting donation of blood stem cells from donors in Wales for patients worldwide.  It also hosts UK National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (H&I), used by transplantation and other laboratories in the UK and overseas.

The Transfusion Laboratories provide the donor testing, manufacturing and distribution of blood and blood products for the population of Wales, liaising with customer hospital to ensure there is a safe and sufficient supply to meet the demand requirements. Additionally the red cell immunohematology laboratory provides a reference service for complex red cell antibody testing of hospital patient, donor and antenatal referrals, often including compatibility testing.

Having worked in the field of H&I for over 30 years Tracey has been actively involved in many developments including the design and implementation of national training programmes,  advising on the design of the new kidney offering scheme and inputting into ‘The Future of Unrelated Donor Transplantation in the UK’. A Report from the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum.  She is also involved in regulation and accreditation being the Designated Individual for the HTA, the Responsible Person for a Blood Establishment for the MHRA and an Inspector for H&I for the European Federation of Immunogenetics and ISO15189.

Other professional roles:
  • Chair of the Panel of Examiners for H&I for the RCPath
  • ISO15189 Inspector
  • European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI) Inspector
  • Member of the RCPath Special Advisory Committee
  • Member of the British Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (BSHI) Education Board
  • Member of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum
Contact:
  • Email: tracey.rees2@wales.nhs.uk
Current Positions:
  • Deputy Director for UK NEQAS for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (H&I)
  • UK NEQAS Board Divisional Representative Immunology Division
  • Laboratory Services Manager for Welsh Transplantation Laboratory, Welsh Blood Service, Cardiff
  • Provide Consultant Clinical Scientist Service for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics at Southmead Hospital, Bristol
Professional Career:
  • HCPC registered Clinical Scientist and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath)
  • Joined UK NEQAS in 2013 as H&I Scheme Manager, then as Deputy Director
  • Over 17 years experience working in H&I
Other Professional Roles:
Contact:
  • Email: deborah.pritchard3@wales.nhs.uk

 

  • Amy first entered the field of H&I a the Welsh Transplant and Immunogenetics Laboratory  in 2004 where she began training for the BSHI Diploma, becoming a HCPC Registered Clinical Scientist in 2009. Amy is a member of the British Society for Histocompatibility (BSHI), the British Transplant Society (BTS) and the European Federation of Immunogenetics (EFI).
  • Amy has an active interest in research and took on the role as scientific lead in the Improving Transplant Opportunities for Patients who are Sensitised (ITOPS) study in 2017 which involved development of the protocol, costing the diagnostic testing, patient selection for the trial and the accompanying antibody analysis.
  • Amy moved to UK NEQAS for H&I to work as the UK NEQAS Operations Manager in 2018.
  • Amy continues to be active in the field and especially within the British Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (BSHI) where she took a role as an Ordinary Member on the BSHI TDE in October 2018 and as the Secretary of the BSHI Research Executive in 2019.  She also sits on the BSHI Education Board.  Amy is a BSHI Examiner and judges posters and presentations for awards at the BSHI Conference.
  • Amy is also active in the field on EQA sitting on the NEQAS Marketing and Promotions Working Group, NEQAS Quality Management Working Group, NEQAS Molecular Forum and the RCPath/IBMS/ACB Joint EQA Quality Improvement Workstream on ‘Agreeing and implementing a consistent approach to identifying and responding to poor performance’ to develop a new UK EQA Governance framework.
  • Amy and her colleagues were awarded the Marie Curie Outstanding Contribution to Fundraising in Wales in 2018.
  • Amy is a Trained Mediator as well as being an ICiPS Continuous Improvement Practitioner.
  • Amy represented WTAIL presenting as a finalist in the Advancing Healthcare Awards in 2020.
  • Amy passed her RCPath Part 1 examination in 2020 making her a Diplomat of the College.  Amy is currently working towards her Fellowship.
Contact:
  • Email: amy.de-ath@wales.nhs.uk
Current position:
  • Deputy to UK NEQAS for H&I Operations Manager
Professional career:
  • HCPC registered clinical Scientist
  • Joined UK NEQAS for H&I in 2000
  • Over 34 year experience working in H&I
  • Previous roles include EFI/UKAS Accreditation Co-ordinator for the Welsh Transplantation and Immunogenetics Laboratory, internal auditor for the Welsh Blood Service.
Contact:
  • Email: melanie.bartley@wales.nhs.uk
Current position:
  • UK NEQAS for H&I Healthcare Scientist Practitioner.
Professional career:
  • Graduated with a BSc Genetics from Cardiff University in 2009.
  • Joined the Welsh Blood Service in 2009 as a Medical Laboratory Assistant.
  • Joined UK NEQAS for H&I as a QA Technical Officer in 2010.
  • Became UK NEQAS for H&I Healthcare Scientist Practitioner in 2017.
  • Previous roles include internal auditor for the Welsh Blood Service.
Contact:
Current Position:
  • QA Technical Officer for UK NEQAS for H&I.
Professional Career:
  • Graduated as a Master of Biological Sciences from Cardiff University in 2019.
  • Began working within the EQA field in February 2020.
  • Joined the UK NEQAS for H&I team in February 2021.
Other Professional Roles:
  • Member of the UK NEQAS logistics working group.
  • Member of the UK NEQAS competitor analysis core group.
Contact:
  • Email: jack.jefferies@wales.nhs.uk

 

 

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