Quality
RUH Policies
There are three RUH policies that apply to POCT. The Medical Equipment Policy (713/2011), the Point of Care Testing Policy (772/2018) and the Diagnostic testing and Screening Procedure (7018/2013). The latter has a related POCT procedure (PATH–001). These are to be found on the RUH Intranet.
Accreditation
POCT is supported by the Pathology Department but the responsibility of the Trust. It is an unaccredited service. Accreditation is completed by UK Accreditation Service.
Accreditation is against the ISO standard ISO 22870:2006 Point-of-Care Testing (POCT). Requirements for quality and competence. This POCT standard supplements the overall standard for Medical Laboratories. More information about accreditation and the relevant ISO standards can be found on this link.
UK Accreditation Service (UKAS)
Quality Manual and Quality Procedure
In order to meet the UKAS requirements for accreditation, the Pathology Quality System is extended to cover the all POCT. Accreditation excludes the use of faecal occult blood testing, and urine dipsticks without the use of readers. Nevertheless the same principles of managing POCT apply to these test types. A Quality Manual for POCT describes the quality system for POCT and the organisation and management of POCT within the Trust.
A Quality Procedure for POCT has been written that defines the requirements for introducing and using POCT testing within the Trust in order to achieve quality requirements and comply with the UKAS Standard for POCT.
The Quality Manual and Quality Procedure are shown here. Queries and change requests for these documents should be sent to the Quality Manager, Pathology.
Point of Care Testing Procedure