UK NEQAS Pre-Analytical Scientific Webinars 2020
UK NEQAS is pleased to introduce a series of eight pan-disciplinary webinars on the topic of Reducing Pre-Analytical Errors in Laboratory Medicine. The webinars will be live on Zoom every Thursday, 3-4pm (GMT), starting on the 8th October 2020.
These webinars will bring the experts in this field into your own laboratory or even your living room as a benefit of your UK NEQAS membership.
The series includes keynote presentations from Professor Ana-Maria Simundic, on Harmonisation of the Pre-Analytical Phase, and Prof. Dr. Pieter Vermeesch on ISO15189 and the Pre-Analytical Phase, as well as sessions on the scientific impact and management of extra-analytical errors.
You can register for as many webinars as you wish, free of charge, and registration is open to all members of your team.
Each week the Pre-Analytical webinar will be led by a subject expert who will present a short talk followed by time at the end for a question and answer (Q&A) session. Delegates are welcomed and encouraged to participate in this valuable section of the webinar.
Although free to attend, registration for the Pre-Analytical webinars will still be required.
Week 1, 8th October 2020: Harmonisation of the Pre-Analytical Phase and the Role of EFLM
This session will cover the importance and significance of the harmonization of the pre-analytical phase in Europe. Objectives, challenges, and future goals will be discussed, as well as the role of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) in facilitating this process.
Speaker Name: Ana-Maria Simundic
Co-Host Name: Barbara De la Salle
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 8th October 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
This session has now been delivered, and the recording will be available soon.
Week 2, 15th October 2020: ISO 15189 and the Pre-Analytical Phase
The ISO15189:2012 standard is aimed to improve quality in medical laboratories by standardization of all key processes, including the pre-analytical phase. It is, however, a common experience that accreditation bodies for ISO15189:2012 tend to spend only a small amount of time auditing pre-analytical activities. Moreover, there are also significant differences in how technical auditors interpret the pre-analytical requirements described in ISO15189:2012.
The aim of this session is to give an overview of a number of important pre-analytical requirements contained in the ISO15189:2012 standard and provide guidance for laboratories on how to meet these requirements. These ISO requirements were discussed within the EFLM Working group Pre-analytical Phase (WG-PRE) and for each ISO requirement, a minimal recommendation and a best-in-class solution were agreed upon by consensus. The target audience for this session is laboratory professionals who want to improve the quality of the pre-analytical phase in their laboratory.
Speaker Name: Pieter Vermeersch, MD PhD
Co-Host Name: Mr Andrew Platt
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 15th October 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
This session has now been delivered, and the recording will be available soon.
Week 3, 22nd October 2020: Serum Indices
Depending on the level of Haemolysis, Icterus and Lipaemia (HIL), laboratories may not be able to get an accurate result for some laboratory tests. This webinar uses data from the UK NEQAS for Serum Indices EQA Scheme to review and compare manufacturer performance of HIL Indices. As examples, we show at the impact on routine assays such as Serum Creatinine and Serum Cholesterol. The session concludes by looking at the current laboratory practice of handling indices, including their use in other matrices.
Speaker Name: Rachel Marrington
Co-Host Name: Ana-Maria Simundic
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 22nd October 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
Week 4, 29th October 2020: Sample Stability
Carrying out in-house assessments of analyte stability can be a minefield. This webinar will discuss why assessing stability is important and will give an update on the current literature on how to determine analyte stability, and how to present and report findings.
Speaker Name: Sophie Hepburn
Co-Host Name: Sean Costelloe
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 29th October 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
Week 5, 5th November 2020, 2 short sessions: Reducing Sample Rejections Due to Pre-Analytical Errors (GOSH experience) AND Managing Transgender Reference Ranges
Reducing Sample Rejections Due to Pre-Analytical Errors (GOSH experience)
Topic summary coming soon.
Speaker Name: Wisdom Musabaike
Co-Host Name: Revd Dr Gordon Sinclair
Managing Transgender Reference Ranges
Topic summary coming soon.
Speaker Name: Sean Costelloe
Co-Host Name: Revd Dr Gordon Sinclair
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 5th November 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
Week 6, 12th November 2020: Pre-Analytics in Coagulation
Topic summary coming soon.
Speaker Name: Steve Kitchen
Co-Host Name: Ian Jennings
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 12th November 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
Week 7, 19th November 2020: Pre & Post Analytical Quality Surveillance (PREPQ)
There have been many initiatives to collect and collate benchmarking data on error rates in the Pre and Post-Analytical aspects of Laboratory Medicine. We report here on the findings from the UK where there has been an established monthly pre and post-analytical quality monitoring service (PREPQ) offered by UKNEQAS since 2017. A recent development has been to offer clinical scenarios presenting pre- or post-analytical errors for interpretation according to local practice. Scenarios presented have included ‘drip-arm contamination’, wrong blood in tube (WBIT), and the use of out-of-date collection tubes in coagulation. A commentary is returned to Participants with their regular report summarising findings and suggesting best practice.
Speaker Names: Barbara De la Salle and Finlay MacKenzie
Co-Host Name: David Bullock
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 19th November 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
Week 8, 26th November 2020: What Data Do We Need And How Do We Get It?
Topic summary coming soon.
Speaker Names: Mike Cornes, Jamie West, plus others
Day/Date/Time: Thursday 26th November 2020, 15:00-16:00 GMT
Register: Coming Soon