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Annual report 2008-9

The annual report for the Standards Unit is available for 2008-9. The aim of this report is to monitor performance of the Unit against the Department for Evaluations, Standards and Training (DEST) business plan 2008-9 and give an overview of activities undertaken during the year resulting in recommendations and an action plan to inform future business plans.

Click here to view the report

Survey report 2009-10

The Standards Unit conducted a survey at the Hepatitis syndrome - causes and diagnosis symposium 11th February 2010 on S1 – Acute infective hepatitis and QSOP 54 - Hepatitis.

Click here to view the report

NSMs 2009

December

BSOP 9 - Investigation of throat swabs

BSOP ID 14 - Identification of anaerobic cocci

BSOP ID 15 - Identification of anaerobic Actinomyces species

BSOP ID 25 - Identification of Gram-negative rods

VSOP 18 - Complement Fixation Tests

VSOP 39 - Procedure for the care and propagation of cell cultures for virus isolation

VSOP 43 - Investigation of viral encephalitis

November

BSOP 11 - Investigation of skin, superficial and non-surgical wound swabs

BSOP 47 - Investigation of specimens for Legionella species

VSOP 23 - Isolation of human herpes viruses (excluding herpes genitalis)

VSOP 24 - Isolation of enteroviruses and parechoviruses

BSOP ID 10 - Identification of aerobic actinomycetes

BSOP 14 - Investigation of abscesses and deep seated wound infections

BSOP 22 - Investigation of cerebrospinal fluid shunts

BSOP 26 - Investigation of fluids from normally sterile sites

October

BSOP 41 - Investigation of Urine

August

VSOP 11 - Anti-HIV Screening

July

QSOP 55 - Investigation of vesicular rashes

VSOP 51 - Investigation of Swine-lineage Influenza A/H1N1 v using the Swine-lineage Influenza A H1 assay

The Standards Unit wishes to inform you that all the issued documents in PDF format have been restricted to viewing only. To be able to print or edit the documents you will need to access the MS Word formatted documents, available from the secure National Standard Methods (NSM) website with a password. This will allow you to access the documents in Word format and contribute during consultation periods. In addition we can keep you informed of future work and training events while also giving us an understanding of user’s needs which will inform future development plans.

Following the issue of QSOP 60 – “Respiratory viruses” the Standards Unit conducted a survey at the Respiratory virus Symposium to see how the document had been received and if it met the requirements of the laboratory. Click here to read the report

Standards Unit 2010 Symposium

‘Hepatitis syndrome – causes and diagnosis’ - presentations will be available to download until 26th March 2010

HPA Hepatitis Programme

Development of Syndromic algorithms by the National Standard Methods Working Group

Epidemiology of viral hepatitis in the UK

Causes and interpretations of abnormal liver function tests

Hepatitis E virus: a new understanding of an old disease

Unusual causes of infective hepatitis

Viral hepatitis in children: Facts and Controversies

The strange case of "C"

Diagnosis and management of hepatitis C in the molecular era

The clinical value of RIBA testing in the diagnosis of hepatitis C infection

Standards Unit Newsletter ESL Newsletter

Following the review and subsequent re-issue of our three documents regarding Corynebacterium species the standards unit conducted a survey regarding the use of these documents and the methods employed for the diagnosis of throat infections/swabs. Read on to find out more. Report

Feedback

RESPIRATORY VIRUSES

"The old & the new"

On Thursday 12th March 2009, the Standards Unit hosted Respiratory Viruses: ‘The Old and the New’ as part of a two day Department for Evaluations, Standards and Training joint symposium at the Health Protection Agency, Centre for Infections. The day was attended by over 100 delegates and the presentations were well received.

We are now pleased to announce that some of the presentations are available online to download. Please click the links below to access:

Dr Ken Mutton - Update of the work undertaken by the Virology Working Group

Dr Keith Perry - Microbiology Evaluations Online (MEO)

Dr Malcom Guiver - Introduction of respiratory PCR testing in Manchester

Other events:

Hepatitis A and E Symposium, Colindale, Centre for Infections

Wednesday 25th March 2009

Click here to access agenda and booking details

Director's Update

Please see attached report

Feb 14th - Standards Unit host successful C.diff Symposium!

Clostidium difficile - The Super Bug Explained, was attended by over 200 delegates, including international guests. The day consisting of a series of talks and discussions regarding accurate diagnosis of this infection and current guidelines, was well received by all.

Please see below links to presentations we have had permission to publish:

Professor Brian Duerden - Setting the Scene: The National Picture of C.difficile

Professor Mike Wren - The Laboratory Diagnosis of C.difficile Infection: What's the real deal?

Dr Keith Perry - Progress on Evaluation of C.difficile Kits

Dr Bharat Patel - Current Guidelines

Professor Saheer Gharbia - A Complete Genome Profiling as a Tool for Selecting Diagnostic Markers

Future events will be available on our website very soon. Watch this space !

Following the recent issue of QSOP 23 – Commercial and in-house diagnostic tests: Evaluations and Validations we are seeking feedback via a short questionnaire from our users. If you could spare 10 minutes to fill it in and send it to us (standards@hpa.org.uk) we would really appreciate it.

QSOP 23 Questionnaire

Recent Collaborations