The Weqas management team provide leadership across all areas of the service. Each area has a dedicated senior responsible for overseeing the service in their specific area. Staff are encouraged to gain a thorough understanding of all areas of Weqas services, with individual staff members having specialist knowledge in specific areas over which they have more in depth responsibility.
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Annette Thomas Director of Weqas and Consultant Clinical Biochemist Annette Thomas is a Consultant Clinical Biochemist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and has over 40 years of experience in Laboratory Medicine. For more than 20 years, she has served as Director of Weqas, a globally respected External Quality Assessment (EQA) provider and Reference Measurement Laboratory, leading the organisation’s strategic development and international reputation for quality. Alongside her laboratory leadership role, Annette has been a pioneering figure in Point of Care Testing (POCT) across Wales. She served as POCT Clinical Lead for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board from 2003 to 2019 and subsequently as National Clinical Lead for POCT in Wales. In this role, she was responsible for developing and delivering the national POCT strategy, chaired the National POCT Strategic Board and POCT Delivery Group, and represented POCT on Welsh Government advisory committees. Annette has made significant contributions to international laboratory medicine through her work with the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), where she is a member of the Task Force on Global Lab Quality and the IFCC POCT Committee, and previously chaired the IFCC Committee on Analytical Quality. Her wider leadership roles have included membership of the Executive Board of the European Committee for External Quality Assurance Programmes in Laboratory Medicine (EQALM) and Chair of the UK Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB) Audit Committee. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to healthcare science and laboratory quality, Annette received the Welsh Government Healthcare Science Lifetime Achievement Award and the EQALM Adam Uldall Award in 2019. Email: annette@weqas.com |
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David Ducroq Health and Safety Officer and Head of the Reference Measurement Laboratory David is the Principal Clinical Biochemist with a specific role in the management and development of services within the Reference Measurement Laboratory since 2002. With over 35 years laboratory experience, David has a keen interest in metrology and measurement traceability. He is currently the JCTLM Database Working Group (JCTLM-DBWG) review team leader for electrolytes and blood gases. He is a JCTLM-DBWG review team member for both the non-peptide hormones group and metabolites and substrates group. He is also a member of the JCTLM-WG-TEP (Traceability: Education and Promotion). He is also a member of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB) Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Special Interest Group. Email: dave@weqas.com Telephone: 02921 832831 |
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Samantha Jones Operations Manager Samantha Jones is the Operations Manager at Weqas and has more than 30 years’ experience in Laboratory Medicine. She began her career as a Biomedical Scientist within the Medical Biochemistry and Immunology Department at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, before joining Weqas in 1998. Since 2010, she has served as Operations Manager, leading the day-to-day delivery and management of external quality assessment (EQA) and internal quality control (IQC) services, supporting laboratories across the UK and internationally. An experienced leader in quality management and proficiency testing, Samantha plays an active role in shaping quality standards within laboratory medicine. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science (FIBMS) and is a member of the IFCC Working Group on Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT). Samantha serves on the Executive Board of EQALM (the European Organisation for External Quality Assurance Providers in Laboratory Medicine), where she contributes to the strategic development of quality assurance activities across Europe. She also chairs the EQALM ISO Standards Working Group, leading collaborations between EQA providers and stakeholders to promote best practice and support the implementation of international standards. In addition, she remains an active member of the EQALM Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) Working Group. She represents Weqas on the United Kingdom Proficiency Testing Committee and was one of two UK representatives on ISO CASCO WG57, contributing to the revision of ISO/IEC 17043. Through these roles, Samantha continues to support the advancement of quality, standardisation, and continuous improvement in laboratory medicine worldwide. Email: sam@weqas.com Telephone: 02921 832830 |
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Gareth Davies Deputy Director, Principal Biochemist, R and D Manager Gareth Davies is Deputy Director and Principal Biochemist at Weqas, with over 20 years’ experience in Laboratory Medicine. He plays a key role in the development and delivery of EQA services including programme development, EQA interpretation, and performance assessment. His particular interests include analytical performance specifications (APS), method harmonisation and standardisation, and POCT EQA. Gareth is a founding member of the Patient Focused Laboratory Medicine (PFLM) Group and a member of the National Clinical Biochemistry Audit Group, the All-Wales Clinical Biochemistry Audit Group, and the Association for Laboratory Medicine Pre-Analytical Phase Special Interest Group. He also serves on the EQALM Pre- and Post-Analytical Phase Working Group and the EQALM Performance Specifications Working Group. Email: gareth@weqas.com Telephone: 02921 832829 |
