EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT
From COVID-19 tests to free lessons: how well do you know UK NEQAS?
Barbara De la Salle, President Elect of UK NEQAS and Dina Patel, Scientific Director for UK NEQAS Immunology, Immunochemistry and Allergy offer a look inside UK NEQAS and how it works in practice. They share real-world examples to demonstrate who are UK NEQAS, and how the organisation delivers exceptional value to clinical and scientific stakeholders.
At the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rush to ensure a rigorous antibody and antigen testing regime on a national scale. Within just four weeks, UK NEQAS had determined the relevant EQA for the antibody testing, which was accredited just eight weeks later. This was the first ISO17043 accredited antibody programme globally, a perfect showcase for how focused collaboration can deliver a critical programme quickly and efficiently. UK NEQAS Immunology, Immunochemistry and Allergy (IIA) is one of a network of UK NEQAS centres forming the UK NEQAS Consortium, overseen by the UK NEQAS educational charity. The COVID-19 antibody EQA success was possible thanks to teamwork across the whole UK NEQAS network.
COVID-19 antigen scheme Dina explains: “As the national EQA provider, Professor Chris Witty contacted UK NEQAS to request attendance at a meeting to discuss the requirements for laboratories to ensure high-quality test results. My task was to lead my team in the rapid development of the COVID-19 antibody EQA programme. In addition, multiple UK NEQAS centres came together to provide support, working together and assisting colleagues in UK NEQAS Microbiology, located within
UKHSA, to set up a viable COVID-19 antigen scheme. As an organisation, UK NEQAS created a number of pragmatic EQA programmes that monitored both the testing kits and the interpretation of the results within a fast-paced laboratory
testing setting being demanded by scientists, health professionals and the public during a global pandemic. Everyone across UK NEQAS came together to share knowledge and support.”
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, UK NEQAS worked quickly to determine the relevant EQA for the national scale antibody and antigen testing regime.
WWW.PATHOLOGYINPRACTICE.COM AUGUST 2024 31
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