About Us
Who are UK NEQAS for Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy?
UK NEQAS for Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy is a specialist centre within the UK NEQAS consortium, proudly based in Sheffield. Since 1982, we've been at the forefront of External Quality Assessment (EQA), distributing serum, CSF, and urine samples to laboratories worldwide. Today, we support over 3,000 participants across more than 40 schemes, operating from dedicated facilities at the Northern General Hospital, part of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
We are a not-for-profit organisation committed to delivering independent, high-quality EQA services. Our mission is to support continuous improvement in laboratory performance, not only through method comparison but also by acting as a comprehensive training resource for our participants.
Our aims
We aim to provide a clinically relevant and responsive EQA service that enhances quality assurance in diagnostic laboratories-ultimately benefiting patient care.
We achieve this by:
- Enhancing and evaluating proficiency in both technical and clinical interpretation through a range of educational activities, including iEQA, webinars, educational commentaries, participant meetings, and conventions.
- Offering objective performance assessments within and across laboratories, covering pre analytical and post analytical testing phases.
- Sharing insights into the relative performance of diagnostic assays and methods.
- Identifying key factors associated with good and poor performance.
- Monitoring and improving inter-laboratory agreement through education.
The 
Charitable Consortium
The UK NEQAS for Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy is proud to be affiliated with UK NEQAS.
UK NEQAS is a network of EQA centres offering more than 400 EQA programmes, all overseen by the UK NEQAS educational charity. As a world leader in EQA, providing optimum EQA services since 1969, we deliver an unparalleled, multidisciplinary range of services by a team that really understands the clinical relevance of EQA and how it supports diagnostic testing for the benefit of patients. All UK NEQAS centres are accredited to ISO17043 and are resolutely impartial and independent.
What this means for you
Being part of UK NEQAS means that you have access to the support of hundreds of expert clinical and scientific advisors, wanting to share best practise. This leads to unrivalled opportunities for collaboration within and across disciplines, at home and internationally.
Education is placed at the heart of EQA, which empowers you to work smarter. We share our knowledge in partnership, supporting performance improvements through regular quality assessments that challenge testers at critical decision-making performance limits. And with experts at the end of the phone ready to help, you can access the right individual support, as and when it is needed.
Working with us, as part of UK NEQAS, you enjoy the unprecedented benefits from a global EQA leader, a unique, education-focused approach, and proven expertise. You know that you are being compared to the best, by the best. And we're decent, friendly people too.
More about the UK NEQAS Organisation
Register with us
Interested in joining our EQA schemes?
Simply complete our Registration Enquiry form to get started.
For more details about our programmes, please refer to our Participant Handbook, or feel free to contact us directly-we're happy to help with any questions.