Thistle QA

1 | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074, South AfricaEQA From Thistle | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074, South Africa2009 International EQA ForJanuary 2009 Thistle QA2 EQA From Thistle | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074, South Africa Thistle QA - We focus on qualityCOMPANY PROFILEOVERVIEWT histle QA is a South African company which offers an independent quality service to laboratories through External Quality Assessment (EQA) and Proficiency Testing (PT) QA was started by Dr Jim McCulloch in 1989.

2 Initially it supplied one EQA, in General Chemistry, to about forty laboratories in the Johannesburg region but this soon increased to cover almost all testing done in pathology labs. Now the database covers labs in over 60 countries worldwide, through a data share facility with Randox Laboratories in the UK. In addition to pathology labs, many industrial labs take part in PTs, for example forensic and food microbiology would be possible to describe Thistle QA merely in terms of figures. For example we have a database of over 6000 participants and most of our data is from overseas, making us a truly international service provider.

3 With 7 international programmes and 16 local ones for pathology, as well as over 20 programmes in other laboratory areas, we have one of the biggest databases in the world. However, we are also truly African and we care about quality. Still based in Johannesburg, we make local expertise available to all our participants through our active advisory and training approach. EQA/PT is a useful way to identify lab analytical problems and we are always willing to support quality improvement in our participating labs in whatever way we can. This could be a simple phone call to discuss quality problems, or a visit to help identify the root cause of the problem.

4 We like to make a receive teaching material monthly, to increase the knowledge base and also help gather those necessary CPD points. In addition, a QC Course in available to all Thistle QA customers, as well as regular seminars and workshops held wherever they are needed, and a multi-disciplinary Annual Quality Talk takes place at major centers throughout Southern statistical services are also available, for example we will help with your new instrument evaluations, validations, linearity testing and so this is free to those taking part in Thistle QA QA was the first EQA/PT service provider in Africa to be accredited.

5 We achieved the ISO guide 43 accreditation from SANAS in 2000, and followed this up in 2005 by adding accreditation to the European standard, ILAC: a truly local and yet international service, Thistle QA is there to help you improve the quality of your testing. With electronic results collection, a friendly and professional service, and electronic reports, we offer one of the best services From Thistle | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074, South AfricaThistle QA is excited to announce that we are joining an International Collaboration of 13 EQA / PT service providers in January 2009.

6 This change will give South African labs access to over 170 additional EQA programmes, and give us much better databases than we would have on our own. DigitalPT in Canada lead this collaboration. For more information visit the web site at and log in under the DigitalPT consult the separate DigitalPT catalogue for 2009 to view the complete listing of all EQAs &AugustMarch&SeptemberApril&OctoberMay&N ovemberJune&DecemberImmunoassayDifferent ial SlideClinical ChemistryClinical MicrobiologyFood MicrobiologyLipidHIV SerologyHaematologyPregnancyBlood GasCSFT herapeutic DrugsHbA1 CUrine ChemistryTransfusion MedicineHuman ProteinsESR (NOT compatiblewith Beckman Alifax)CoagulationD-DimersCardiacUrinaly sisCTS (Forensics)

7 Liquid CardiacMost of the above programmes are fully international and operate in over 60 countries through our collaboration with Randox (UK).NEW INTERNATIONAL EQAs FROM JANUARY 2009 STARTING DATES FOR Thistle EQA PROGRAMMES4 EQA From Thistle | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074, South AfricaANALYTE LIST FOR 2009 ANALYTE LIST INDEXP6 - Blood Gas, CardiacP7 - Liquid Cardiac, Clinical ChemistryP8 - Clinical Chemistry, Differential SlideP9 - Coagulation, HaematologyP10 - Therapeutic Drugs, Food Micro, ForensicP11 - Lipid, UrinalysisP12 - ImmunoassayP13 - Human ProteinsP14 - Clinical Microbiology, Urine ChemistryP15 - CSF, D-Dimer, ESR, HbA1CP16 - HIV Serology, Pregnancy.

8 Transfusion MedicineBLOOD GASPROTEIN SOLUTIONJANUARY & JULYA nalyte CodeAnalyte NameAnalyte UnitReturn NameStat LevelAcceptable CVCALCI onised Calciummmol/lIonised Calcium110 Acidmmol/lLactic Acid120 LITHL ithiummmol/lLithium112 PCO2pCO2mmHgpCO218 PHpHn/apH35PO2pO2mmHgpO2112 POTP otassiummmol/lPotassium18 SODS odiummmol/lSodium13 TCO2 Total CO2mmol/lTotal CO219 Gas EQA Programme:If the PO2 mean values are <100 mmHg, all values within the range +/- 15 mmHg of the mean will be considered to be the Ionised Calcium mean values are < mmol/l, all values within the range +/- mmol/l of the mean will be considered to be HUMAN SERUMMARCH & SEPTEMBERA nalyte CodeAnalyte NameAnalyte UnitReturn NameStat LevelAcceptable CVCRCKCK TotalU/lCK Total320 CRMBACK-MB ActivityU/lCK-MB Activity320 CRMBMCK-MB Massng/mlCK-MB Mass320 CRMHOH omocysteine mol/lHomocysteine325 CRMYM yoglobinng/mlMyoglobin328 CRTRIT roponin Ing/mlTroponin I323 CRTRTT roponin Tng/mlTroponin T323 CRTTIT roponin T QualitativeInterpretationTroponin T Qualitative3n/aCardiac EQA Programme.

9 If CK-MB Activity mean values are <20 U/l, all values within the range +/- 4 U/l of the mean will be considered to be From Thistle | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074, South AfricaANALYTE LIST FOR 2009 LIQUID CARDIACJANUARY & JULYA nalyte CodeAnalyte NameAnalyte UnitReturn NameStat LevelAcceptable CVLCBNPBNP pmol/lBNP320 LCCKMCKMB massug/lCKMB mass320 LCDIGD igoxinnmol/lDigoxin318 LCHOH omocysteineumol/lHomocysteine325 LCHSCHS-CRP (High Sensitivity CRP)mg/lHS-CRP (High Sensitivity CRP)322 LCMYM yoglobinug/lMyoglobin328 LCNTPNT- ProBNPpmol/lNT - ProBNP320 LCTRIT roponin Iug/lTroponin I323 LCTRTT roponin Tug/lTroponin T323 This is a new addition, a fully international EQA all the details were not available at the time of printing, but please contact Thistle QA for more details.

10 CLINICAL CHEMISTRYLYOPHILISED HUMAN SERUMMARCH & SEPTEMBERA nalyte CodeAnalyte NameAnalyte UnitReturn NameStat LevelAcceptable CVALBA lbuming/lAlbumin37 ALTA lanine TransaminaseIU/lAlanine Transaminase320 AMYA mylaseIU/lAmylase319 APHA lkaline PhosphataseIU/lAlkaline Phosphatase318 APPAcid Phosphatase, ProstaticIU/lAcid Phosphatase, Prostatic312 APTAcid Phosphatase, TotalIU/LAcid Phosphatase, Total312 ASTA spartate TransaminaseIU/lAspartate Transaminase317 BICB icarbonatemmol/lBicarbonate115 BILB ilirubin - Total mol/lBilirubin, Total320 BILDB ilirubin - Direct mol/lBilirubin, Direct336 BILDNB ilirubin - Neonatal mol/lBilirubin - Neonatal120 - Ionisedmmol/lCalcium - Kinase - TotalIU/lCreatine Kinase, Total320 COPC opper mol/lCopper1136 EQA From Thistle | | Tel 27 11 463 3260/1/2 | Fax 27 11 463 3036PO Box 131375, Bryanston, 2074.