The Swiss External Quality Assessment Scheme in Bacteriology and Mycology 1992–1996 |
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Authors: | H H Siegrist V Pünter-Streit A von Graevenitz |
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Institution: | Institut Neuchatelois de Microbiologie, Boucle de Cydalise 16, CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland Tel.: +41-32-967 21-01; Fax: +41-32-968 26-43; e-mail: hans.siegrist@fnis.etatne.ch, CH Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie der Universit?t Zürich, CH-8028 Zürich, Switzerland, CH
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Abstract: | The Swiss External Quality Assessment Scheme in Bacteriology and Mycology was created in 1980 and has been organised since
1983 by the Department of Medical Microbiology in Zurich. The number of Swiss participants has steadily risen from 66 in 1989
to 92 in 1996. Twelve bacterial and fungal strains are sent to the participants in four despatches, each containing three
specimens, per year. Scores are allocated per specimen and range between 0 and 1. Participants with mean scores of ≤0.75 are
considered poor performers. The mean scores increased from 0.85 in 1992 to 0.91 in 1996. This improvement can be attributed
to the educational effect of the external quality control scheme, since all participants receive a detailed discussion for
each specimen together with their individual results. On average, both large University and Cantonal (state) laboratories
as well as private laboratories show satisfactory performance. In particular, laboratories officially recognised by the Swiss
Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH) rate better than non-recognised participants. Many small regional hospital laboratories,
most of them not SFOPH-recognised, are often among the poor performers. They are often managed by technical staff and lack
a trained microbiologist. The recently introduced legislation in Switzerland renders participation in external quality assessment
schemes compulsory, and all clinical microbiology laboratories are required to employ qualified microbiologists. This will
certainly help to improve the quality standards of all laboratories performing microbiological tests.
Received: 13 November 1997 · Accepted: 28 December 1997 |
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Keywords: | Bacteriology Mycology External quality assessment Quality control |
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