In Australia there are single pathologist laboratories and some practices with 40 or more pathologists. The scope of practice within these laboratories varies considerably. Pathologists in smaller laboratories tend to report general cases and may have specialist skills in an area. It is common practice for complex cases to be referred to a pathologist with specialist skills renowned in that area. In large laboratories or specialist laboratories (e.g. Dermatology, Paediatric, Forensic) commonly pathologists work only in their area of specialty.
General or Specialist QAP modules may contain cases that laboratories would not ordinarily see in their day to day practice. The implications for the performance monitoring project are that performance of laboratories is not always being assessed according to the scope of practice of a laboratory.
Document download
This publication is available as a downloadable document.
The Role of External Quality Assurance in Identifying Poor Laboratory Performance(PDF 518 KB)