About Us
Who are UK NEQAS for Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy?
UK NEQAS for Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy is based in Sheffield and has been involved with the distribution of serum, CSF and urine samples for EQA purposes since 1982. We currently cover the distribution of more than 30 schemes to more than 2000 participants worldwide. We are based in dedicated facilities at the Northern General Hospital, part of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
We operate on a not-for-profit basis to provide an independent External Quality Assessment (EQA) service to a high standard, and support continual quality improvement through performance monitoring. As well as providing EQA services, we also act as a training resource to our participants in EQA in its entirety, beyond the basic function of method comparison.
We are the Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy specialist centre within the UK NEQAS consortium.
Our aims
UK NEQAS for Immunology, Immunochemistry and Allergy aims to provide a clinically relevant & responsive service.
We aim to maintain and improve skills in quality assurance in clinical diagnostic laboratories for the benefit of patients.
We do this by:
- Testing and implementing proficiency in technical & clinical interpretation through education activities (iEQA, Annual reports, Participant meetings, Conventions)
- Providing participants with an objective assessment of their performance both within their laboratory and in relation to that of other laboratories
- Providing information on the relative performance of the available kits and methods
- Identifying factors associated with good and poor performance
- Monitoring and improving the between-laboratory agreement through education
The 
Charitable Consortium
The UK NEQAS charitable consortium facilitates optimal patient care by providing a comprehensive external quality assessment in laboratory medicine. Through education and the promotion of best practice, we help ensure that the results of investigations are reliable and comparable wherever they are produced.
UK NEQAS staff have extensive experience in clinical diagnostic laboratory services and maintain expertise in current best practice. They can provide clinically relevant assistance in trouble shooting and diagnostic interpretations to all participants.
More about the UK NEQAS Organisation
Register with us
To register for our EQA schemes, please complete the Registration Enquiry form.
For further information on our schemes, please refer to our Participation Handbook or contact us.