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Departments, Offices, and Branch Laboratory
Departments, Offices, and Branch Laboratory
Office of Quality Assurance
| The Office of Quality Assurance works to ensure the validity and reliability of examination data provided by the examination sections, and also studies ways to achieve this. |  |
One of the tasks of the Office of Quality Assurance is related to quality assurance based on Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) for food hygiene laboratories determined by the Food Sanitation Law. The processes and results of examinations related to food sanitation are checked for accuracy and validity to ensure transparency and reliability. Specifically, internal checks on the testing process and record ledger are performed in accordance with a standard operating procedure to verify the test findings. Through internal and external quality assessment, the methods of examinations and technical evaluations of personnel are also verified. Target facilities for which the Office of Quality Assurance is responsible include 22 laboratories of 8 divisions, 2 monitoring and guidance sections, and 2 office sections that are related to food testing at the Institute, as well as the Wholesale Market Sanitation Inspection Station, Meat Sanitary Inspection Station, and public health centers of Tokyo metropolitan government.
Another main task is the implementation of the external quality assessment based on the Clinical Laboratory Technicians and Health Laboratory Technicians Law that covers registered clinical laboratories in Tokyo.
Registered clinical laboratories are institutions that examine blood, urine and so on upon requests from medical institutions. The aim is to improve the accuracy of testing at these laboratories. Target parameters include implementation of cytodiagnosis, sampling tests of cytologic specimens for gynecology and lung cancer, and biochemistry, hematology, serology, and microbiology examinations. This assessment is done in an open system which delivers samples of blood and feces to the laboratory directly. A blind system, in which blood and feces samples are delivered through associated hospitals as patient specimens, is used as well. The results are then published in the Report on the external quality assessment for registered clinical laboratories in Tokyo. Number of participating laboratories is about 70 every year. Based on the results, special inspection and guidance are provided at laboratories considered to be in need, and follow up is also provided via periodic inspection.
The Office of Quality Assurance also conducts quality assessment to maintain the accuracy of biochemical examinations in health centers and hygiene laboratories in the 23 wards of Tokyo.
| [Relationship with Tokyo citizens] The Office of Quality Assurance checks whether or not the various bacteriological examinations and chemical examinations conducted at the institute are being performed accurately with valid methodology; thus, ensuring the validity of the test results. Also, over 90 % of medical institutions submit blood and urine samples to other clinical laboratories for testing. Our office will continue to enhance quality assurance services in order to improve the accuracy of testing at clinical laboratories and to secure the medical care and health of Tokyo citizens.
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