Latest News
Standards Unit 2010 Symposium
‘Hepatitis syndrome – causes and diagnosis’ - presentations will be available to download until 26th March 2010
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
Diagnosis and management of hepatitis C in the molecular era
The clinical value of RIBA testing in the diagnosis of hepatitis C infection
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
National Standard Methods translated into Italian! please click here to view
Are you carrying out Audits using National Standard Methods?
National Standard Methods are frequently used as an audit tool at a local and national level. Please let us know if you are undertaking audits using National Standard Methods by e-mailing us a copy of the report or involve us in the formation of the questions. We welcome any collaboration which will improve the quality of the documents.
As always, the Standards Unit welcomes all comments and feedback on the development of National Standard Methods. Watch this space for new ways in which you can voice your suggestions!
To inform our users and manage our work process we have developed a schedule of documents due for review over the course of the year. This schedule is for information only and will assist laboratories when reviewing their internal SOPs. The schedule is subject to change in accordance with changing priorities in Microbiology. NSM Work Schedule - 2010
Coming soon to all our documents: Glossaries.
Over the next year there will be a new feature to our QSOPS and BSOPs. We are inserting glossaries into our documents. Eventually we hope that they will be a feature of all NSMs where relevant.
Glossaries are an alphabetical list of terms and their definitions in a particular domain of knowledge. These terms are either newly introduced in the documents or fairly uncommon in everyday life. Glossaries are usually placed at the end of the document, and in the NSMs can be found just before the list of references.
The first of our documents to have a glossary inserted was QSOP 55 – Investigation of vesicular rashes have a look and tell us what you think.
We now have a "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) page
We are developing a new website and welcome your views on how to make it user friendly. Please contact the Standards Unit.
- Syndromic algorithms to link clinical syndromes to laboratory testing
- NSM Joint Working Group for Clinical Microbiology
- Hepatitis Guidance Note - QSOP 54
NSMs 2010
March
QSOP 59 - Investigation of Toxoplasma Infection in Pregnancy
VSOP 12 - Preparation of coated grids for electron microscopy
VSOP 45 - Haemadsorption of Viruses
February
S 1 - Acute Infective Hepatitis
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
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