The professional advisory structure for Weqas is a Steering Committee which meets with the organisers of Weqas three times a year. Steering Committee members selected are renowned within their fields with medical, scientific or technical experience to cover the scope of EQA services provided and advise the organisers of Weqas on the overall operation of the programme. Steering Committee members discuss the frequency of distribution of materials, the types of materials to be distributed, methods of statistical analysis and data presentation, the desirability of introducing new investigations to the programme, evaluation of criteria for satisfactory performance, the critical cut offs, the appropriate clinical range, clinical advice and interpretative comments. The Steering Committee is not concerned with the performance of individual participating laboratories, except where this might indicate a failure in the operation of the programme.
The Steering Committee discusses with the organisers criteria for satisfactory performance and they have agreed that the responsibility for the acceptance of such criteria will rest with the National Quality Assurance Advisory Panel for Chemical Pathology (NQAAP). All members of the Steering Committee are available to receive comments from participants, although the majority of comments are received by the organisers via the “helpline”.
Steering Committee Members
Chairman, General Clinical Biochemistry advice with Quality Control as area of expertise. Consultant Clinical Biochemist, BSc, MSc, PhD, DipRCPath. Chemical Pathology Department, Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust, Luton.
General Clinical Biochemistry advice, expert advisor for HbA1c programme. Chair IFCC ED-Diabetes Biomarkers Committee. Consultant Clinical Biochemist, BSc, MSc, Phd, MCB and FRCPath. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Clinical advice in Chemical Pathology, Deputy Chair of the Joint Working Group (JWG) in Clinical Chemistry. Ex-chair of NQAAP in Chemistry, represents Advisory Panel. Consultant Chemical Pathologist and Head of Clinical Chemistry Department, BSc, MB, BAO, BCh, FRCPath, FACB.. Department of Clinical Chemistry, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Director of Cardiff Porphyria Service, Clinical advice in Chemical Pathology. Clinical lead in inborn errors of metabolism and porphyria, advisor for Porphyrin scheme. Consultant Chemical Pathologist, Consultant, BSc, MB, BCh, and FRCPath. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Immunology, University Hospital of Wales.
Chair of JWG in Clinical Chemistry and Ex-Chair of NQAAP in Clinical Chemistry, Advisory Panel representative. Clinical advisor for Chemical Pathology.
Clinical advice in Chemical Pathology, Expertise in Hyperlipidaemia and Cardiology. Consultant Chemical Pathologist, BSc, MB, BCh, MD, FRCPath, MTCP. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Immunology, University Hospital Llandough, Cardiff.
General Clinical Biochemist Consultant, BSc, MSc, PhD, FIBMS, FRCPath. Area of expertise – Toxicology, advisor for Drugs of Abuse programme and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring programme. Department of Toxicology Clinical Chemistry, Wansbeck General Hospital, Northumberland.
General Pathology advice. His area of expertise is Quality Control and IT. IBMS Representative.
Senior Biomedical Scientist, MSc, FIBMS. Area of expertise is Haematology. Member of the Haematology Standing Specialist Advisory Group for Wales. Deputy Chair of the All Wales Coagulation Group. Pathology Department, Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
Director of Postgraduate Research. Clinical Scientist, BSc, MSc, PhD. Research focuses on the use of diagnostic testing in health and disease. Links with WHO, International Diabetes Federation, International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Areas of interest in Point of Care testing for diabetes, global quality standards and policy, and Clinical utility of diabetes biomarkers. School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia.
Clinical Lead Microbiology Cardiff. Consultant Virologist. BSc (Hons), MBChB, FRCPath. Department of Microbiology Cardiff, Public Health Wales.
