3.2 Identifying where errors occur
Errors can be introduced at any stage of the path of workflow (as shown in Table 4): before the test takes place (pre-analytical), during the test (analytical) and after the test (post-analytical). It is important to identify where errors can occur and put in place controls and measures to reduce these. Using standardised procedures helps keep errors to a minimum.
Path of workflow | ||
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Pre-analytical | Analytical | Post-analytical |
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Footnotes
ID = pathogen species or subspecies identification; AST = antimicrobial susceptibility testingActivity 5: Potential sources of error
Part 1
Table 5 lists some errors that may occur during the testing process in a biomedical laboratory. For each example select the appropriate pathway stage from the drop-down options.
3.1 Standard operating procedures (SOPs)