UK NEQAS Haematology 2201CY Survey News
Dear CY Participants,
Please note that there were no glass slides distributed and no digital case for 2201CY, and therefore no results entry is required. A field notice was emailed out on the 10th of January 2022 and is also available for download on the website under documents. The next digital case is in the process of being worked out and should be available online in the next few months. We are still hopeful to send out occasional glass slides, but please keep an eye out on your emails and the website for further details and updates.
UK NEQAS Participants' manual
Please click here for the UK NEQAS Haematology Participants’ Manual – Version 12 (December 2021) available to download.
UK NEQAS Schedules for 2022/23
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.
UK NEQAS Haematology and Transfusion
The current Covid-19 wave of infection from the Omicron variant has affected our staffing levels, in the same way as most other employers. Our business continuity plan is to prioritise the preparation and distribution of our exercises to the published schedules, over other aspects of the service. Although we will do all we can to maintain our report turnaround times, you may experience some delays. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
2112FB and 2106DL Reports
We apologies for the delay in issuing the 2112FB and 2106DL reports. We have been experiencing IT processing issues which has impacted on our ability to provide the reports as per our schedule. Thank you for your patience.
UK NEQAS Haematology Update Webinars
Sessions will include a keynote morphology session led by Dr Peter Carey and Professor Barbara Bain, and there will be time at the end of each webinar presentation for delegates to participate in an interactive Q&A session with the speakers.
Webinar Recordings are now available to watch. Click links below
| Week 1 | UK NEQAS Haematology Current Performance and Future Developments |
| Day/date/time | Thursday 21st October 2021, 14:30-15:30 (UK time) |
| Speaker(s) | Dr Barbara De la Salle |
| Recording | https://youtu.be/V45_BWmKn3Y |
| Week 2 | UK NEQAS Morphology with the Experts |
| Day/date/time | Thursday 28th October 2021, 14:30-15:30 (UK time) |
| Guest Speaker(s) | Dr Peter Carey, Professor Barbara Bain, Dr Michelle Brereton and Dr John Burthem |
| Recording | https://youtu.be/928fF84PGOw |
| Week 3 | Clinical Application of Advance Automated Counting Parameters |
| Day/date/time | Thursday 4th November 2021, 14:30-15:30 (UK time) |
| Guest Speaker(s) | Dr Wayne Thomas |
| Recording | https://youtu.be/xKF-wRaKQ0o |
For further information
Visit: www.ukneqas.org.uk/events
Email: [email protected]
2022 Re-Registration
UK NEQAS Haematology
Re-registration will open mid-February 2022. 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 2022 to 31 March 2023. Online re-registration is not required if you are a participant registering via an agent.
2022/23 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 2022. 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 2022 to 31 March 2023. Online re-registration is not required if you are a participant registering via an agent.
2022/23 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 Haematology: 2111HB, 2111PV, 2111NH
The UK NEQAS Haematology and Transfusion website and server experienced technical issues during 30/11/2021 and 01/12/2021. Results submitted between 15:00 (GMT, UTC +0) on the 30th of November and 19:30 on the same day may have been lost.
Participants that have lost their data will be able to return this information.
We have re-opened our 2111HB, 21111PV, 2111NH surveys to allow you to confirm and re-submit your results. Please log into https://www.ukneqash.org/SampleEntry/ and submit your results as normal. Please ensure that the analysis date reflects when samples were analysed to ensure results are reviewed appropriately.
2111HB, 2111PV, 2111NH reports will be delayed as a result.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. In the meantime if you have any further queries regarding this please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
Professor Samuel Machin (1949-2021)
We were saddened by the news of the death of Professor Sam Machin on Saturday October 2nd. Sam was chair of the UK NEQAS Haematology Steering Committee from 2006 – 2009 and his support of the Scheme was much valued. Tributes and thoughts on Professor Machin’s life and contribution can be posted at the following ‘Much Loved’ page, which has been established by his family and friends:
Tribute to Samuel Machin, 1949 - 2021
This site is a tribute to Sam, who sadly passed away on October 2nd 2021 aged 72 years. He is much loved and will always be remembered by everyone who was lucky enough to know him.
UK NEQAS Haematology 2108NH distribution
We regret that several packages for the 2108NH distribution have been delayed due to an internal administrative oversight. These packages were dispatched on Friday 20th August and we advise that you allow 4 days for them to arrive. As a result of this delay, we will not close the distribution for return of results until Wednesday 8th September. We apologise for this inconvenience. If you have any queries, please contact [email protected].
UK NEQAS Services Available List for 2021-2022
UK NEQAS Services Available List 2021-2022
The UK NEQAS Services Available List is a comprehensive directory of all UK NEQAS External Quality Assessment (EQA) / Proficiency Testing (PT) programmes, and is available to view online now. Haematology-related EQA programmes are listed on pages 8-10 of the directory.
Global EQA
The directory features over 500 different EQA/PT programmes covering over 5,000 unique analytes, ensuring full coverage of all aspects of clinical laboratory testing.
New Developments
The UK NEQAS consortium has developed several new pilot modules and have launched a range of Covid-19 services, including new EQA/PT programmes and educational competency programmes, details of which can be found within the Services Available List.
UK NEQAS Haematology Update Webinars March 2021
Following the UK NEQAS Haematology webinars held in March 2021, please find below links to the recordings of each webinar:
Week 2 Recording: Troubleshooting Haematology EQA, Tuesday 16 March (click here)
Week 3 Recording: Haemoglobinopathy EQA Cases, Tuesday 23 March (click here)
UK NEQAS Newsletter 2021-2022
Please click here for the Haematology Newsletter 2021-2022
Please click here for the BTLP Newsletter 2021-2022
Postponement of the UK NEQAS Haematology Annual Participants’ meeting
The Annual Participants’ meeting 2020 was cancelled as a result of the national Covid-19 restrictions and we have taken the difficult decision not to hold a face-to-face meeting in 2021 because of continued uncertainty. We will hold three webinars free-of-charge for participants on March 9, 16 and 23 2021 and plan to offer further online or streamed educational activities in place of the Participants’ Meeting in the Autumn of 2021.
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.
Handling UK NEQAS Haematology and Transfusion specimens during the COVID-19 pandemic
UK NEQAS Haematology and Transfusion specimens are a low risk for Covid-19 infection, compared to clinical samples. We have undertaken a risk assessment and advice on handling our specimens and packages during the pandemic can be found here.
We gave consideration to cancelling and moving the exercise to a different date, however with the rapidly changing situation around COVID-19, it seemed very unlikely that there would be any short-term improvement in access to material.
The data entry pages for the exercise will still have details for both Patients 1 and 2. We have marked all Patient 2 samples as “Unsatisfactory sample quality – Sample not received” so that you can submit results without entering data for Patient 2.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this change.
Recruitment for EQA Quality Improvement Plan
The Royal College of Pathologist has set up a new pathology wide External Quality Assurance (EQA) review programme to improve the governance and culture of pathology Quality Assurance (QA). This is an opportunity for experienced laboratory medicine professionals to contribute their expertise to the four workstreams that have been established. If you are interested, please click here for more information or email [email protected]
Professor Keith Hyde elected to the IBMS Council
We were delighted by the news that Professor Keith Hyde, former UK NEQAS Haematology Director, has been elected to the IBMS Council. Follow him on Twitter @kh2409.
Haematology Automated Counting Advisory Group
UK NEQAS Haematology is looking to recruit an experienced Beckman Coulter instrument user to the Automated Counting Scientific Advisory Group. If you are interested or would like to know more, please email the Scheme Director ([email protected]).