About Neu-QAP
Laboratory Medicine is a rapidly growing professional field having many implications
on health care. Laboratories come up by the crop, without understanding the impact
they will have on health care. There is nothing wrong in laboratories coming on
every street as long as there is a commitment to maintain the quality of the results
to a minimum standard. Defining this minimum standard has become very subjective
and each lab professional defines quality practice in his or her own way, which
may be correct or wrong depending on the science behind it. Proficiency testing
(PT) is a vital component of Quality Control where the laboratory’s performance
is compared against a peer group. At Neu-QAP, our aim is to have a large peer group
of laboratories, not only across India, but on a global scale. The modules for PT
in the areas of routine haematology, clinical chemistry, serology, histopathology
and basic microbiology are already existing as we were the nodal centre for another
similar programme. The programmes for other high-end tests including those related
to immunohistochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, mass spectrometry and genomics
will be developed and introduced in a phased manner. Our priority is to work towards
accreditation of the programme as per ISO17043 standard.
Vision
To be among the top three providers of PT services globally with the widest menu.
Program Policies
Neu-QAP is the proficiency testing program of Neuberg Anand Academy of Laboratory
Medicine, an independent organisation associated with Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratories.
The programme will provide cost effective External Quality Assessment to member
laboratories. Laboratories can become members by registering to the program, following
scrutiny of application by the Quality Manager of NAALM.
Criteria for approval of laboratories would be based on the following:
Authorised signatory should be a medical graduate with qualification approved by
the Medical Council of India. The laboratory should have a well-defined internal
quality control programme. This is a necessity as day to day variations are best
identified by internal quality control. If the laboratory is not NABL accredited,
it should provide a proof of running daily quality control in the form of LJ charts
or cumulative SD and CV for two months where applicable. If the laboratory does
not have record of internal quality control, measures should be taken to record
the same in the form of LJ charts. This will help the laboratory to develop a system
of records which in turn will help in preparing for the process of accreditation.
NABL accredited laboratories are required to provide accreditation details.
Where relevant, the programme will use pooled sera as quality control material to
begin with and change over to lyophilized material at a later date. All material
(sera) being dispatched to member laboratories should be considered as potentially
infectious and handled according. The quality assessment program for histopathology
shall focus on two aspects- PART A: on pre-analytical aspects beginning from tissue
processing, sectioning to staining. PART B – on analytical aspects (interpretation
of slides).
PART A - Tissue samples that are fixed in buffered neutral formalin shall
be distributed to all member laboratories. The labs are expected to process the
tissue and prepare stained slides which shall then be returned to the nodal centre
for evaluation. Parameters like thickness of section, artefacts and staining quality
shall be scored and results shall be returned to the lab.
PART B – Identical H&E stained sections from a single block shall be distributed
to all member labs along with pertinent history. The labs are expected to return
their interpretations and diagnoses in clear terms, in the response sheet that shall
be provided. Classification where ever applicable shall follow current and internationally
acceptable guidelines. The results shall be compared with the consensus diagnosis
and report made.