Laboratories : Case Study
• Quality of accommodation – " The first time we weren ' t ashamed to have visitors !"
• Flexibility – the ability to increase contiguous space as required
• Location – near NHS Blood & Transplant and Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre ( Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Birmingham Women ' s Hospital )
• Facilities – rental of facilities ( extraction hood and -80C freezer space ) in the BioHub which do not justify investment in dedicated equipment within BQ
BQ has pioneered the application of EQA in laboratory medicine , and other expert centres look to BQ for advice on service design and delivery . As the service assesses the performance standard of entire laboratories , quality requirements are high – services have been accredited by Clinical Pathology Accreditation ( UK ) Ltd since the introduction of Standards for EQA services in 1997 and recently we have achieved accreditation by UKAS against the new International Standard ISO / IEC 17043:2010 for proficiency testing .
BQ services not only underpin clinical governance for UK laboratories and monitor laboratories delivering National Screening Programmes ( Newborn Bloodspot Screening , Bowel Cancer Screening ) but also have global influence on diagnostics manufacturers ( eg . Abbott , Roche , Siemens ) and contribute to the evidence base for NICE and other national guidelines .
www . birminghamquality . org . uk
EQA assesses the performance of laboratories and the commercial products they use
90 SUMMER 2016