Terms and Conditions

UK NEQAS (Blood Coagulation) Terms and Conditions of Participation for UK-based centres

1. Registration with the UK NEQAS BC programme is on an annual basis.
2. Participants agree to pay a fee for services provided by the programme. Invoices will be raised by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and will be payable within 30 days of issue. VAT will be charged if applicable.
3. Participants must provide accurate invoicing address details as invoices which need to be credited and reissued will incur administration fees
4. Participants must provide a purchase order where this is required by the financial organisation responsible for payment of the invoice.  Failure to provide a purchase order will result in suspension from the programme until such time as a valid purchase order is received.
5. Purchase orders must be raised to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FT
6. The financial year is from 1^st April to 31^st March.  Participants registering in the programme or re- registering for the year will be charged in full and no refunds will be given for registrations cancelled during the year.
7. Failure to pay the invoice will result in deregistration from the programme.
8. Participants are invited to register for tests they perform in their department.
9. Participants are asked to provide contact details for

• Head of Department or Practice
• Primary contact for receipt samples and reports
• Contact details for the finance department responsible for paying invoices
• Additional email address contacts can also be added

10. All contact details provided to UK NEQAS BC will be used for the purposes of providing EQA Services. UK NEQAS BC have the right to keep contact names in our secure databases for medical legal purposes and cannot be removed. If an individual does not want their contact details held by UK NEQAS BC then please do not register their details. We will contact participants with respect to UK NEQAS BC-related information, including distribution of samples, closing date reminders, report availability and test performance. We will not share contact details with any third party, with the exception of performance-related issues referred to the National Quality Assurance Advisory Panel (NQAAP),  overseen by the Royal College of Pathologists Quality Assurance in Pathology committee (see https://www.rcpath.org/profession/committees/qapc.html). Please also see our privacy policy, accessible through our website www.ukneqasbc.org
11.  Where certificates of registration are issued, it should be noted this does not confirm participation in any exercise by the registered centre.
12. If registered for a test, results should be returned whenever that test is included in an exercise. If results are not received, this will be recorded as a non-return, and in the absence of a valid reason for the non-return, will be deemed equivalent to the lowest performance grade for that exercise.
13. If a participant fails to return results for 4 surveys, their registration for that test may be removed.
14. Performance assessment is carried out according to the statistical methods described for each programme. The assessments are a statistical measure, designed to assist participants in evaluating the performance of their tests/assays. It is important for participants to use their own professional judgement in evaluating the clinical relevance of any differences between their results and the survey median or target result.
15. Please note the following requirements of laboratory participation in EQA under ISO15189: “The laboratory shall not communicate with other participants in the interlaboratory comparison programme about sample data until after the submission date”, and “ The laboratory shall not refer interlaboratory comparison samples for confirmatory examinations before submission of the data, even if this would be routinely done with patient samples”. Where evidence of collusion is found, participant performance will be scored as a fail for that survey.
16.  Participants will be contracted by the Scheme Director if performance in a survey or series of surveys is deemed of concern. If performance continues to be of concern, this may be referred anonymously to the UK NEQAS BC Steering Committee for advice. If there is still no resolution to performance issues, the laboratory may be referred to the NQAAP, which may require laboratory contact details to be forwarded. 

For terms and conditions of participation for centres outside of the UK, please contact equalsbc@coageqa.org.uk  

Updated Dec 2023