Pathology Programme News No. 12 1 st June 2010

1. National Pathology Programme Board The National Pathology Programme Board (NPPB) work programme for 2010 / 2011 reflects the following priorities: Quality, including the design of services to meet appropriate accreditation and regulatory requirements such as CPA, Blood Bank MHRA and HTA Workforce, including an All Wales approach to the design of an appropriate workforce to underpin future service planning and delivery Information standards that will support reporting Pathology KPIs and benchmarking Development of appropriate standardisation to reduce variation and support configuration and implementation of the new LIMS The NPPB comprises Clinical Directors of Pathology and Directorate Managers from all Health Boards and national services and will meet next on 10th June 2010. IM&T The LIMS Full Business Case has been submitted to WAG for final approval. A number of workshops are currently being held as part of the work by Pathology disciplines to develop the standardisation detail required to inform configuration of the new LIMS. Portfolios of standardisation are being quality assured by the discipline SSAGs and will be issued through the NPPB. This will enable services to begin to take advantage of the opportunities these All Wales standards provide for future service planning and delivery across Health Boards and national services. LIMS work streams in which the service is directly involved include: Benefits Readiness and standardisation, including sample numbering, screen configuration and business intelligence Legacy data Design, build and configuration Testing and validation Dependency management Service management Training Implementation Accreditation Requirements Laboratory, Quality, POCT, Blood Bank Managers and HTA Designated Individuals continue to collaboratively develop resources and share good practice relating to CPA accreditation and compliance with MHRA and HTA regulatory requirements. The HTA group held a workshop for Coroners and Pathologists on 14th May. Resources currently under development by the group include All Wales consent forms and accompanying guides for Post Mortem examinations. Resources currently under development by the Pathology Quality Management Forum include Identification and Control of Non-Conformities guidance and guidance for the Content of a Service Level Agreement between a Pathology Department and a User / Customer. Printing of the All Wales Blood Transfusion Request form is currently out to tender. Completed resources are posted on the Pathology Community website on www.nliah.com/portal. Please note: The HTA recently issued general directions requiring all post mortem establishments to submit a report on compliance with HTA standards by 30th June. Their form is based upon that developed by Tim Von Pokorny and the All Wales Pathology Quality Managers Forum. The HTA have stated that if hospitals in Wales have completed that form within the past 6 months, they will accept that rather than requiring that the HTA compliance form be completed and submitted. For further information on the National Pathology Programme, please go to howis.wales.nhs.uk/pmuw Please contact Margie Fielden, Pathology Programme Manager, on 20920 207615 or by emailing margie.fielden@wales.nhs.uk if you have any queries or issues accessing the Pathology Community website. For further information on the LIMS Programme, please visit http://howis.wales.nhs.uk/ihc Pathology Programme NewsNo. 121st June 2010