Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Friday, 12 September 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 October 2003. It was answered by Melanie Johnson (Labour) on Monday, 6 October 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what supporting inspection arrangements are in place for microbiology laboratories.

Answer: Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what supporting inspection arrangements are in place for microbiology laboratories. [130080] Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department expects to appoint a new inspector of microbiology shortly, with the key aim of ensuring high quality public health and clinical microbiology. His/her functions will include: ensuring that all microbiology laboratories providing services to the national health service meet their responsibilities for public health surveillance; promoting standards and ensuring quality in the operation of microbiology services; identifying significant gaps in specialist and reference microbiological testing that are relevant to public health surveillance; achieving adherence to standard operating procedures in diagnostic microbiology. To improve clinical governance, raise quality standards and improve openness and transparency for patients, the Department recently decided that all NHS pathology laboratories in England should enrol with an appropriate accreditation scheme. Further information will be contained in the Department's document on modernising pathology services, which will be published in the autumn.

Secondary information