Scheme Information

 

Acceptable Units

  • BNP: ng/L (pmol/L is discouraged due to assay cross-reactivity with pro-BNP).
  • CKMB (Mass): µg/L
  • CKMB (Activity): IU/L
  • Myoglobin: µg/L
  • NT-proBNP: ng/L (pmol/L is discouraged due to assay cross-reactivity with pro-BNP).
  • Troponin I & T: ng/L although µg/L is still accepted.

Participation

Participation is open to all clinical/research laboratories and point of care providers in the UK and overseas.

Participation in the scheme

The scheme organise educational and participant meetings as well as annual questionnaires to allow participant appraisal of the service.

 

Appeals Procedure

An appeal may be raised if participants are unhappy with their performance. Participants can appeal by contacting the Scheme Organiser. It is hoped that resolution will occur at this stage however, if participants wish to escalate the appeal, they are referred to the Chairperson of the Specialist Advisory Group (SAG) of UK NEQAS. Appeals are dealt with is the same manner and timescales as complaints (see complaints). Appeals are logged in accordance with the Communication Process.

Complaints Procedure

Should a participant have a complaint regarding any aspect of the scheme, they should notify the Scheme Organiser or Scheme Quality Manager. All complaints are logged and will be formally responded to within 14 days. Should the matter remain unresolved the participant may refer the complaint to the chair of the appropriate UKNEQAS Steering Committee/Specialist Advisory Group or the NQAA Panel. The steering Committee will also monitor and review all complaints.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is strictly maintained, with each laboratory identified by a unique code known only to the scheme organiser and the participant. The only circumstances under which participation and/or performance records in the scheme might be divulged are where a participant shows consistently poor performance or when requested by any other regulatory authority. In the UK consistent poor performance may require the scheme organiser to divulge performance information to the National Quality Assurance Advisory Panel.

 

If you wish to participate in any of the EQA schemes run by UK NEQAS Cardiac Markers you can sign up here

Register to participate

Committees & Advisory Groups

Steering Committee/Specialist Advisory Group

The scheme is organised with a formal Steering Committee ( UK NEQAS (Clinical Chemistry)) and membership of the UK NEQAS Specialist Advisory Group for Immunoassay. A member of the appropriate National Quality Assurance (NQA) Advisory Panel sits on the Steering Committee and the Specialist Advisory Group.

NQAAP and Joint Working Group

The National Quality Assurance Advisory Panels (NQAAP) are professional groups which have executive responsibility for maintaining satisfactory standards of analytical and interpretative work in laboratories in the UK, whether in the private or in the public sector, in which investigations are performed for the detection, diagnosis or management of disease in humans. The Chairperson of each of the Panels reports to the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Quality Assurance. Details of JWG conditions of EQA participation have been reproduced in the scheme manual and are available on the RCPath website.