Diagnostic tests or associated pre-analytical steps are being performed increasing outside the confines of the medical laboratory on a point-of-care (POC) basis. Widespread though such POC testing (POCT) has become, the required governance, quality control and quality assessment is perhaps lagging behind technological application. It will be no surprise, therefore, that accreditation of these widespread services is high on the agenda, and those bodies providing external quality assessment services are sharpening the focus on this near-patient activity.
With this in mind, UK NEQAS colleagues in Sheffield are organising two one-day meetings for the autumn. The first, ‘UK NEQAS for Blood Coagulation: Providing an Anticoagulant Service’ will take place in York on Friday, 22 September, and will include, among other coagulation-related topics, the point-of-care testing of international normalised ratio (INR) and D-dimer.
The following month, both the focus and the venue will shift when ‘UK NEQAS: Coordinating Point-of-Care Testing’ will be the multidisciplinary subject of a one-day meeting on Friday, 20 October at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. This event is aimed at coordinators, managers and all healthcare professionals providing POCT services.
Further details of both events can be found online and in the Diary section of this website.