Below we have complied a few testimonials that we have received from our participants:
“There is always good sample quality and accuracy in sample delivery“
“Efficient and professional service”
“Meets our needs, quality samples in time, excellent communication”
“Service is exemplary, any request dealt with promptly, fantastic service”
“Answer all our questions and solve our problems”
The Relevance of EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE
The UK National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) provide an external quality assessment (EQA) service for clinical laboratories. EQA monitors laboratory performance using ‘blind’ samples analysed as if they were patient samples to ensure testing is comparable, safe and clinically useful to a patient no matter where the testing is performed.
The purpose of EQA:
- Allow labs to monitor, evaluate and improve all aspects of service provision.
- Allows participants to compare their assay performance across time, across method, across networks
- Give insight into individual lab performance in a national setting helping to drive improvements.
- May reveal unsuspected areas of weakness and can also act as a check on the efficacy of internal quality control procedures.
- Can be used as a tool for competency assessment of lab staff.
- Independent
- Highlights best practice, common errors or poor practice, up-to-date guidance and clinically relevant performance issues.
- EQA participation demonstrates that your laboratory is committed to providing the highest quality of analysis for all patients.
AIMS
UK NEQAS for H&I is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to:
- Provide professionally-led and scientifically-based EQA schemes with a primarily educational objective
- Help the laboratory appraise its performance and monitor improvements externally through continuous operation, regular distributions of samples and performance feedback
- Produce reports which are designed to be clear, informative and structured to assist interpretation
- Assess technical, analytical and interpretive performance of a laboratory
- Participation in an appropriate, accredited EQA Scheme is a requirement of accreditation to ISO:15189 standards.
EQA forms an essential part of quality assurance within a laboratory and provides evidence of individual laboratory performance. However, it gives only a snapshot of a laboratory’s performance at any given time and the information reported back is inevitably a retrospective view of the quality of results. It should be undertaken in addition to, not in place of, other quality assurance measures.
Clinical Governance
UK NEQAS is an important part of clinical governance and quality assurance structures and reports to a number of oversight bodies in the UK such as RCPath, MHRA and UKAS to support better governance and patient safety.
If you have any further questions, please contact us directly.