Quality

Accreditation

The majority of the tests offered by the laboratories are accredited to iso15189:2012:

• Oxford Regional Genetics Laboratories UKAS Schedule of Accreditation (8694)
• Oxford Molecular Haematology Laboratory UKAS Schedule of Accreditation (8464)

Tests currently provided outside the UKAS schedule of accreditation:

• Biochemical service to measure Pyruvate Dehydrogenase (PDH) enzyme activity in cultured fibroblasts (due to the specialist nature of this test)
• SNP array (pending Extension to Scope)
• Gene panel testing using Twist Exome NGS (pending Extension to Scope)
• Whole Genome Sequencing

Quality control

Oxford Genetics Laboratories participate in the Genomics Quality Assessment Schemes or other UK NEQAS schemes for each aspect of our service, as appropriate.

The laboratory validates and verifies all tests prior to implementation and incorporates internal quality control measures within its procedures.

Clinical advice

Clinical advice is available to clinicians on all aspects of service provision including selecting appropriate tests, sample requirements, testing pathways, interpretation of results and professional discussion of individual cases.

For all enquiries, please contact us and we will direct you to the appropriate person.

Feedback

We welcome feedback from our users and undertake regular surveys.

Quality commitment

To fulfil the requirements of iso15189:2012 in relation to referral laboratories we have made the relevant information available within our website. Due to the volume of requests and variety of forms we receive we are unable to complete individual forms.

Provided that we are sent samples and accompanying requests that are valid we make the following assurances to you.

1. We will inform you as soon as possible of any exceptional circumstances that adversely affect the quality of services that we provide for your referred samples.
2. Wherever available, we are registered with an EQA scheme, or interlaboratory comparison programme, appropriate to the service provided. We will inform you of any adverse EQA that results in persistent poor performance. Where no EQA scheme or interlaboratory comparison programme is available, we have alternative mechanisms in place to provide objective evidence for determining the acceptability of test/assay results.
3. We will provide information on our website about the following.
   • Sample requirements (including, but not limited to, sample volume, sample collection and transport conditions)
   • Contact details
   • Turnaround times
   • Pricing
   • Accreditation status

The above commitment applies to all referred tests and associated interpretations that we provide for you and includes all aspects that are pre-defined in any individual agreements.