Cover Letter: Run 113/42

Dear UK NEQAS ICC & ISH Participant,

• Run 112 / Run 41 reports are available to download.
• Run 113 ICC / Run 42 ISH slides will be despatched between the 15^th – 19^th February 2016.

Go to www.ukneqasiccish.org and click on ‘Participant login’ to retrieve reports and instructions for the new assessment

Closing Date for RUN 113 (ICC) / 42 (ISH): 14^th March 2016*

*Slides post-marked after this date may not be assessed. Late receipts are logged and reviewed by the scheme.

• Confirm receipt of your slides via: www.ukneqasiccish.org/confirm-receipt/
• Allow at least 1 week (2 weeks for overseas labs) after the last despatch date for your slides to arrive. If you do not receive your slides, please contact info@ukneqasiccish.org or Tel: +44 2074157065

Important Reminder

UK NEQAS ICC & ISH Has Moved: – Please ensure you send your slides to the new address:

Room 127, Finsbury Business Centre, 40 Bowling Green Lane. London EC1R 0NE.

Address label templates can be downloaded at:  http://www.ukneqasiccish.org/downloads/

Important Changes to the Distributed EQA Slide

• Distributed EQA slides now consist of ‘same slide NEQAS + in-house’ control slides. Please cut your appropriate in-house control material alongside the NEQAS slide.
• Separate in-house controls are still required for the Cytology Module
• All slides except the Cytology module will arrive unbaked
• Please cut your in-house controls onto the NEQAS slide below the red line and allow to drain thoroughly
• Then bake the slide (ideally in a temperature controlled oven) at either 37°C overnight OR 55-60°C for 1 hour, and then carry out your usual staining procedure. 
• See also module specific instruction sheets which are available by clicking ‘instructions’ in the participant login area

Module Specific Announcements

• Breast HER2 ISH: Cut and place a single ‘example’ from a clinical case or control onto the distributed NEQAS slide. See online module instruction sheet. A composite control is NOT required.
• ALK IHC for NSCLC: Reports are now available in participants’ login area: www.ukneqasiccish.org. Instructions and methodology data entry are available by clicking on ‘Ex.URL’ link once logged into the web data entry system.
• Breast Hormone Receptor: Antibody Requested = Oestrogen receptor (ER).
• Cytology: The Gold for this run is Melanoma Markers
• In-house controls should still be sent as a separate slide. We are not using the Patient/Control slides for this module. If you wish to change your sample (cytospin or cell block) then please contact the scheme.
• Secondary Antibodies Run 113: Gen C: CK 5/6; Lymphoma N: CD5 ; Neuropath J: IDH-1; Cytology T: Calretinin; GIST Vb: S100; HNPCC: MSH2 & MSH6
• Antibody not stocked?: Please e-mail for the alternative antibody that you require: info@ukneqasiccish.org

Reminders

1. UK NEQAS ICC & ISH Has Moved: – Please ensure you send your slides to the new address: Room 127, Finsbury Business Centre, 40 Bowling Green Lane. London EC1R 0NE. Address label templates can be downloaded at:  http://www.ukneqasiccish.org/downloads/
2. Forgotten Your Login Details?: Please use the ‘Email Reminder’ link on www.ukneqasicc.org to retrieve your details. UK NEQAS ICC & ISH will not give out logon details to any laboratory personnel not registered on the scheme’s database.
3. Labelling Of Slides and Requests For Extra Slides
   • Remove your machine generated/manually written labels from the EQA slides
   • Make sure separate in-house slides are clearly labelled with your lab and run number
   • Return slides in the correct , colour coded, pre-labelled boxes, sealed and labelled for each module.
   • The last date for requesting extra slides is 7 days prior to the closing date
   • A valid reason for requesting extra slides is required. Extra attempts are not permitted.
   • Between assessments we are happy to provide extra sections for trouble shooting or validation.
4. Completion of Online Data Sheets is Mandatory
   • We assess not only your slides but require your methods/protocols to give the best feedback possible. Remember you must enter data for both antibodies before pressing Complete; prior to this use the Save button until both sets of data have been entered.
5. Web Data Entry
   • Slide Instructions are available in the Methods/Protocols Section
   • ‘Help’ files are available online once you log into your web data entry e.g.:
6. Reassessments/Appeals
   • Are only accepted for the latest assessed slides
   • Prior to requesting a Reassessment/Appeal, participants you are expected to have received your slides back and looked at these along with your report and the images on the website
   • Download a re-assessment form from: http://www.ukneqasiccish.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NEQ-MF171.pdf
   • Only enter the details for the slides you wish to be reassessed; if you are sending in slides for comparison only; e.g. in-house controls please mention this in the section at the bottom of the reassessment form.
   • Please do not use any previous versions of these forms, or you may be asked to resubmit.
7. Diagnostic testing (UK labs only)
   • If your laboratory is NOT currently diagnostically testing for any of the UK NEQAS ICC & ISH modules, then please inform us immediately, otherwise this can impact on your poor performance status
8. Non submissions – reasons entered in the online data
   • If you are not participating for a particular module or run please ensure you select the correct reason from the drop down menu in the data entry; e.g. antibody not stocked, outsourcing, withdrawn, even if you have contacted the scheme or a member of the UK NEQAS ICC & ISH team, or returned an online survey etc.