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NEWSLETTER
Issue 42 October 1999
Newsletter Archives
Contents
Protecting
Your Reputation
Top
What price Laboratory
accreditation?
Your reputation could depend
upon the quality of a laboratory result. Our very existence depends upon
the quality of the results we report to you. That is why NWL spends a significant
amount of effort and revenue on quality assurance. However a rigorous internal
quality control system and participation in external quality assurance
programmes is no longer enough. To demonstrate technical competence, and
the provision of accurate, relevant and consistent results requires a control
system within the laboratory which is independently externally assessed
and enforced. For a laboratory to achieve this objective requires participation
in an internationally approved accreditation scheme.
Which accreditation
scheme?
When it comes to accreditation
there are a number of options. In the medical world laboratories are accredited
by the Royal College of Pathologists through the Clinical Pathology Accreditation
(CPA) scheme. A working committee is currently reviewing the feasibility
of establishing a veterinary laboratory accreditation programme based on
the CPA scheme. Unfortunately the CPA scheme is not a government or internationally
recognised standard and it looks as though the launch of such a veterinary
scheme may take some time to come about.
There is also the ISO 9000
series of standards which is essentially a quality management system for
manufacturing and service industries. The certification bodies are agreed
that ISO 9000 may not be used to support laboratory quality in commercial
testing laboratories. A laboratory may not advertise itself as an ISO 9000
accredited laboratory.
Other possibilities include
Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). GLP is administered in the UK by the Department
of Health through the Medicines Control Agency. Compliance with GLP is
a legal requirement for organisations conducting work on the safety of
chemicals. The standard is designed to enable regulatory bodies to reconstruct
the steps involved in the generation of safety data. GLP is not concerned
with the technical validity of the data generated. Therefore GLP is not
a suitable standard for the assessment of a clinical laboratory’s technical
competence.
National Accreditation
of Measurement Service (NAMAS)
The accreditation most appropriate
for the majority of clinical laboratories is the National Accreditation
of Measurement Service (NAMAS) standard. This is administered by the United
Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). This standard is based on the international
Guide for laboratory accreditation ISO 25 and the standard EN45001 and
is recognised throughout the world.
NWL accreditation
NWL has already taken a
step down the road to accreditation. We are a NAMAS accredited testing
laboratory for the microbiological testing of food. Plans are well advanced
for the accreditation of a large proportion of the laboratory’s clinical
pathology testing.
What is involved?
NAMAS accreditation requires
the establishment of a Quality System comprising a Quality System Manual,
Standard Test Methods Manual(s), Standard Operating Procedure Manual(s)
together with all the associated recording systems for logging data and
information, incubation temperatures, quality control results and analysis,
complaints and anomalies, equipment servicing, maintenance, temperature
records, calibration of equipment, approved suppliers, staff qualifications,
training etc. etc.
The Quality System is all
held together by frequent internal audits and annual external surveillance
audits of every aspect of the quality system by independent assessors.
Failure to comply with the standard can result in suspension or even termination
of accreditation. The whole process is extremely comprehensive, time consuming
and expensive. The benefits of NAMAS accreditation are that the results
produced by a laboratory are validated for the purpose, consistent, repeatable,
appropriate and comparable with another accredited laboratory using the
same method.
Why bother?
Accreditation to an international
standard should be the objective of every laboratory serving the veterinary
profession. In turn the veterinary profession should demand accreditation
as a essential assurance of technical competence and result quality. Why
should you risk your reputation?
Top
Further information:-
ISO/IEC
25
Good
Laboratory Practice
United
Kingdom Accreditation Service
Clinical
Pathology Accreditation
Clin
Path Club
First Meeting -
Sell Out
The first meeting of the
NWL Clin Path Club will take place on Thursday 14th October at 7.30 pm.
The venue is at North Western Laboratories. For those attending who need
some sustenance after a hard days work, sandwiches and drinks will be served
from 7.00 pm. We regret that we are full to capacity for this meeting
We regret that we are full
to capacity for this meeting. Reserve a place for the next meeting call
01253 899215 now and ask for Alistair Parker.
Location maps are also available
on request. You will also find information and a location map at www.nwlabs.co.uk
Top
Veterinary
Nursing - BASICS
What is a virus?
Viruses are sub-microscopic
particles composed of a small amount of genetic material - either deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) - wrapped in a protein cover. Unlike
bacteria and other micro-organisms they can not grow or multiply outside
of a living cell. To multiply a virus must attach itself to a host cell.
Once attached it invades the cell and using its own genetic material makes
copies of itself. The host cell then dies and releases the new virus particles.
The process then repeats itself damaging or killing more and more of the
host cells.
The Host
Viruses may be host specific
infecting only one particular species (Human herpes simplex) and often
only one type of cell (hepatitis B - liver cells). Some viruses evade both
the immune system and vaccination by a process of mutation, an inherited
ability to change the genetic code (influenza viruses) this ability may
also enable them to cross the species barrier.
Classification
Viruses can be classified
into families based upon their genetic makeup (gene sequences). A range
of techniques are used to detect viruses, these include: direct visualisation
- electron microscopy; growth in living cells - animals, eggs, tissue culture;
microscopic changes in cells - histopathology, immuno-histochemistry; detection
of virus or antibodies in serum or tissue - Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent
Assay (ELISA) tests, Serum Neutralisation (SN) tests etc; detection of
viral genetic material - Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
Protection
Many viruses are destroyed
by the natural immune system resulting in lifelong protection from further
infection. But vaccination is often the best protection against virus infection.
Vaccines may be made from killed virus, live modified virus or genetically
similar natural viruses. The growth of molecular biology is seeing the
development of novel techniques for the prevention and treatment of viral
diseases.
Top
Modern
Diagnostic Techniques
It is difficult to open
a newspaper or listen to a news broadcast without seeing or hearing about
the latest development in genetic technology, cloning or genetically modifying
something or other. These high profile news stories are just the tip of
the molecular biology iceberg.
Developments in the application
genetics and its associated technologies has transformed the face of diagnostics
particularly in medical pathology. Although developments have been much
slower in the veterinary sector many of the complex research techniques
used in the manipulation of DNA and RNA are finding a place in routine
laboratory testing. Probably one the major growth areas has been in the
identification of viruses and bacteria. One of the most powerful test systems
is based on the Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR). PCR is a technique for
isolating a gene sequence in a virus, bacteria or other micro-organism,
then multiplying the genetic material by a chain reaction process to provide
sufficient material for identification.
Over the past 4 years NWL
has been developing PCR techniques for the investigation of feline coronavirus
(FIP), Chlamydia and Leptospira. The advantages of PCR over conventional
methods for the identification of viruses and bacteria are the culturing
is not required, non-viable material can be identified and organisms can
be identified in low numbers. This particularly useful with organisms such
as Leptospira which quickly die outside of the host and have a very slow
antibody response to infection. Similarly Chlamydia are often only present
in small numbers in a sample and can be difficult and hazardous to culture.
Top
Sameday
Courier Service Expanded
The sameday courier service
which has been successfully operating in the Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater
Manchester and Cheshire areas has been expanded to cover Staffordshire.
Daily collections are being made as far as Telford. Samples are collected
during the morning and delivered back to the laboratory usually before
2.00pm. This enables us to have results for most requests faxed the same
afternoon.
If you are located in the
areas mentioned and do not currently take advantage of this free service
please contact client services on 01253 899215 for more information
Tail
End
Wonder drug cures
the droop
ASDA supermarket chiefs
have linked with the Dutch flower grower Intergreen to see if the new wonder
drug Viagra can help flowers remain perkier longer. Researchers in Australia
and Israel have reportedly discovered that adding Viagra ingredients to
a vase full of flowers stops the plants from drooping for almost twice
as long as normal. WOW.
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