What is required for the organisation of proficiency testing schemes

The organisation of a proficiency testing round involves many different tasks. These can be roughly classified into the following three categories:

• Laboratory work is necessary to test and validate a PT test item. Measurements should be performed by a competent testing or calibration laboratory, i.e. a laboratory complying with the requirements of the international standardISO/IEC 17025. This may be the PT provider's laboratory or a subcontractor.

   

• Logistic and administrative work must be carried out. Large batches of test items may need to be processed, the participants informed, an advisory group involved, the PT report written, and the confidentiality of scores safeguarded. All procedures should be transparent and documented. They are usually integrated into a quality management system.

   

• The reported data must be evaluated. This typically involves inspection of the dataset for reporting errors and outliers, a check for dataset normality, and a statistical evaluation and calculation of the performance scores. PT providers are expected to base their evaluation on internationally recognised documents, such as ISO 13528 .

   

The overall quality requirements for the accomplishment of these various tasks are laid down in international standards and guidelines (see the overview below).