UK NEQAS Cellular Pathology Technique

This survey hopes to gather information on the Diagnostic Cytopathology Cell Block services being provided globally, and to assess the need for and interest in an external quality assurance (EQA) scheme for Diagnostic Cytopathology Cell Block preparation.

Cell blocks represent an important and valuable tool in a modern cytopathology era and many Cytopathology centres routinely carryout preparation of cell blocks to aid in patient diagnostics. This requires in depth technical knowledge along with a judgement of when such a preparation is relevant to the investigation and to the pathologist. Different methods have been described for cell block preparation, however the extent of technical variability as well as technical problems in a daily practice are unknown.

At present there is no External Quality Assurance (EQA) scheme covering this part of Diagnostic Cytopathology and the specialist knowledge aspect of the service - with many Cytopathology centres organising and participating in their own audit / quality control schemes.

UK NEQAS CPT, in cooperation with the European Federation of Cytology Societies (EFCS), has designed and prepared this survey with the aim to gather information on Diagnostic Cytopathology Cell Block services, to assess the need and interest for cell block EQA scheme and, based on the results of this survey, to propose recommendations concerning best practice for the Cell Block technique.