SPECIALIST TECHNIQUES
Slide Based
Number of Assessment Runs
6 distributions over a 12-month period
Materials Assessed
Distributed Material
Special A
Diastase PAS
Elastin
Van Gieson
Gram
Perls' Prussian blue
Reticulin
(silver method for)
Ziehl Neelsen
Special B
Alcian Blue PAS
Amyloid (method for)
Grocott
Haematoxylin Van Gieson
Masson Fontana
Martius Scarlet Blue (MSB)
Copper Associated Protein (method for) Trichrome
As part of this scheme schedule, unstained sections are provided to participants for H&E staining, allowing for the assessment of their staining performance only.
Rationale
The Specialist Techniques scheme is designed to evaluate the quality of specialised methods by distributing known target material on a rotational basis, as outlined above. 2 unstained sections are provided to each participant for A & B, as specified with each assessment distribution, to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the organisation’s techniques.
Submission
1 of each of the 2 provided A and B slides is stained using the specified specialist stains, as outlined in the delivery letter
Results Reporting
- Individualised Results Report
- Participation Certificate
- Annual Report