Q- Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety (WG-LEPS)

Membership

Name Position Country Term Time in Office
M. Plebani Chair IT 2nd 2010 01 - 2012 12

Terms of references

  • The Education and Management Division (EMD) of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) has recently established a new Working Group on "Laboratory errors and patient safety" (WG-LEPS 9.3.8).
    The WG mission is to stimulate studies on the topic or errors in laboratory medicine, to collect available data on this topic and to recommend strategies and procedures to improve patient safety.
  • According to the Chair of the World Alliance for Patient Safety, Sir Liam Donaldson, established by the WHO in 2004, "a focus on addressing errors in laboratory medicine is an important element of the international agenda on patient safety. Timely and accurate laboratory test results are a cornerstone of effective diagnosis and treatment of patients" (Clin Chem Lab Med 2007; 45(6): 697-9).
    In the last few years a body of evidence has been collected to demonstrate that many of the errors in laboratory medicine occur in the pre- and post-analytical phases of laboratory testing. Therefore, improving the safety of laboratory testing requires a detailed understanding of the steps involved in the total testing process to identify the hierarchy of risks and challenges to be addressed.
  • Patient safety is increasingly recognised as a serious problem that requires a globally led approach and the IFCC WG-LEPS should be a tool to improve the knowledge in the field at an international level, and to recommend the development and application of standardised operating protocols.

Current Projects

  • Improving awareness of laboratory professionals regarding the topic of errors and patient safety
  • Implementing pilot studies to evaluate laboratory errors frequency and types
  • Implementing projects for error reduction through the design of safer procedures and processes
  • Cooperating with other scientific organisations (WHO, AACC, ASCP, etc) for assuring improvements in the field of patient safety
  • Organising meetings and scientific sessions on the topic of laboratory errors and patient safety
  • Supporting the publications of papers on the topic of laboratory errors and patient safety in scientific journals and monographies.

Working Group Chair's contact:

Prof. Mario Plebani
Department of Laboratory Medicine
University-Hospital of Padova
Italy
e-mail: mario.plebani@unipd.it

 

Current corresponding members:

  1. Michael Astion, Associate Professor, Director, Reference Laboratory Services, Dept. Laboratory Medicine Univ. of Washington, 206 598 8400, mastion@u.washington.edu
  2. Dr. Michael A Noble MD FRCPC, Microbiology and Infection Control, Vancouver Hospital, University of British Columbia, Room 328A, 2733 Heather Street,Vancouver BC Canada, mnoble@interchange.ubc.ca
  3. Younis A. M. Skaik, 16/46 Omar AL-Mokhtar Street, AL-Rimal, Gaza-City, Palestine. younis abdelwahab skaik XXXXXX
  4. Samia Sobki, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hsobki@yahoo.com
  5. Pierangelo Bonini, Università Vita e Salute, Milano,bonini.pierangelo@hsr.it
  6. Roberto Pagni, Ospedale Molinette, Torino.XXXXXX
  7. Sharon Ehrmeyer, Ph.D., MT(ASCP), Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Director, MT/CLS, ehrmeyer@wisc.edu
  8. Oswald Sonntag, Scientific Affairs , Europe-Middle East-Africa-Asia-Pacific, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, osonntag@ocdde.jnj.com
  9. Giuseppe Lippi, sez Biochimica Clinica, Dipartimento di Scienze Morfologico-Mediche, Università di Verona, Italy, glippi@mail.univr.it
  10. Laura Sciacovelli, Centro Ricerca Biomedica, Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, laurasciacovelli@gmail.com
  11. Ana K Stankovic, Medical and Clinical Affaire, BD Diagnostics, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA, ana_stankovic@bd.com
  12. Joe Boone, Division of Laboratori Systems, National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. Boone, D. Joe (CDC/CCID/NCPDCID)XXXXXX