Joint UK NEQAS BTLP/BBTS SIG Annual Participants’ meeting,
Thursday 24 November 2022, Birmingham

UK NEQAS IVDR UPDATE

The European Union In Vitro Diagnostics Regulation [Regulation (EU) 2017/746 (EU IVDR)] was implemented on the 26th of May 2022.  A statement of the application of the IVDR to external quality assessment (EQA) services can be found here.

UK NEQAS Haematology Haemosiderin Report 2203HS

UK NEQAS Haematology regrets that the report for survey 2203HS is delayed because of technical issues with report generation.  We anticipate that we will issue the report by the end of January, and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.  We will notify participants when the report is available.

22L Closing Deadline Extension

Some participants have reported delays in the Royal Mail delivery of their UK NEQAS Haematology 22L packages (December 2022). The deadline for return of results via online data entry for the December surveys has been extended as below:

We will accept results without penalty via email after these dates until December 23rd. Please note that results submitted after the extended closing dates will be processed at a later date and your report amended to reflect your late submission. Please send your results to [email protected]using the UK NEQAS result sheet (available here: www.ukneqash.org/SampleEntry/).

Please note there will also be a delay in issuing the respective reports due to the extension of closing deadlines.

2023 Re-registration

UK NEQAS Haematology

Re-registration will open mid-February 2023.  You will receive an email once the re-registration process opens with instructions on what you need to do to renew your membership for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.  Online re-registration is not required if you are a participant registering via an agent.

2023/24 PDF copies of exercise schedules have been uploaded and can be accessed in the documents section. You can also use our online schedules list by clicking here Online schedules.

UK NEQAS Blood Transfusion Laboratory Practice  (BTLP)

Re-registration for all BTLP schemes including Pre-Transfusion Testing (PTT), FMH, ABO Titration, DAT, Extended Red Cell Phenotyping (ERP), Red Cell Genotyping (RCG) and Antenatal Titration (ANT) schemes will open towards the beginning of March 2023.  You will receive an email once the re-registration process opens with instructions on what you need to do to renew membership for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.   Online re-registration is not required if you are a participant registering via an agent.

PDF copies of exercise schedules have been uploaded and can be accessed in the documents section. You can also use our online schedules list by clicking here Online schedules.

UK NEQAS Schedules for 2023/24

PDF copies of exercise schedules have been uploaded and can be accessed in our documents section. You can also use our online schedules list by clicking here Online schedules.

The online schedules page allows you to view all the exercises along with the opening, closing and reporting dates. You will also be able to filter down and view schedules for individual schemes. Further to this you can view an individualised schedule for your own PRN from that same page as long as you are logged in. To do this click the Login button, login with your PRN, Identity and Password and click the Distribution schedules option from the drop down menu with your initials.

All schedules allow you to export them as PDFs or Excel sheets so you can download and / or print them.

Changes to scoring for Hb S%

A change has been made to the way the analytical performance score is calculated for the Hb S% parameter.  The analytical performance score is a running score calculated from the deviation index (DI) values from the most recent six specimens for which results have been returned, with the application of a multiplication factor.  The multiplication factor has been reduced from 9 to 8 for Hb S%, effective from 2205AH.  As a result of this change, you may notice a small step-change reduction in your Hb S% performance score.  If you have any questions or concerns about this change, please contact us on +44 (0)1923 587111 or email [email protected]

Are you interested in becoming a scientific advisor?

UK NEQAS Haematology relies on the expertise of our Scientific Advisory Groups (SAGs) members, who provide advice, feedback and ideas to develop our services. We are always looking for new recruits. You do not have to be a national or international ‘expert’ in the field: we need representatives of our service users with an interest in laboratory haematology and an enthusiasm for the role of EQA in patient care.  The SAGs operate in three areas: Automated Counting, Haemoglobinopathies and Morphology.  We are keen to recruit to the Automated Counting SAG, especially if you are a Beckman Coulter user, but all expressions of interest are welcome.  The time commitment is relatively small, comprising attendance at a couple of meetings annually, participation in occasional Task and Finish Groups and review of documentation.  In return, you will be invited to the Annual Participants’ meeting (including accommodation) as our guest.  If you are interested or would like to know more, contact Barbara De la Salle (01923 587111 or [email protected]).  Don’t be afraid to ask or think you have nothing to offer! 

UK NEQAS Newsletter 2022-2023

Please click here for the Haematology Newsletter 2022-2023

Please click here for the BTLP Newsletter 2022-2023

UK NEQAS Covid-19 testing EQA

UK NEQAS offers a range of EQA to support Covid-19 diagnostic and monitoring testing. Click here for more information.

Parasitology Teaching Day

For access to UK NEQAS Parasitology website please click here. If you have any questions, please email us here.