Quality system
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At Uppsala Genome Center, we are commited to providing quality assured services to our users, and have adapted to a strict quality control system that will ensure secure handling from project planning to data delivery.
Our Quality Policy
- NGI-UGC facility shall perform services of high international standard based on their users’ needs.
- NGI-UGC facility shall perform services in an impartial manner free of commercial, financial and other pressure.
- NGI-UGC facility strives to offer the most modern technologies for genomic analysis.
- NGI-UGC facility shall work actively with education and outreach activities to promote knowledge about current state-of-the-art technologies for genomic analysis as well as technologies under development.
- NGI-UGC facility shall perform their analyses in accordance with the highest possible quality standard, and will continuously develop its quality, methodology and data security.
- NGI-UGC facility personnel are aware of the quality system documentation, and carry out their work in accordance with it.
- NGI-UGC facility contacts with its users, funders and other external bodies shall be in accordance with good professional practice.
- NGI-UGC facility will operate in accordance with the ethical, legal and regulatory provisions at Uppsala University and in accordance with good practice in medical and scientific research.
Quality assurance in practice
The foundation for the quality of the services at Uppsala Genome Center is it's highly skilled and dedicated laboratory personnel who handle thousands of samples in hundreds of projects every year. The sequence data we produce is quality controlled and processed by an equally skilled and dedicated group of bioinformaticians who secure delivery of high-quality data to the users.
All services follow strict working and documentation procedures. This includes sample tracking, quality controls and a standardized protocol for each method.
Uppsala Genome Center uses an integrated, in-house developed laboratory information management system (LIMS) for sample and data tracking from project start to end. Currently the comprehensive MiniLIMS from BioTeam is being implemented for the sequencing processes. Further, we use AM system for keeping track of current Standard operating procedures (SOP) and other important documents.
List of requirements for daily operations
It is of vital importance to us to deliver the highest possible level of quality, and to never deviate from the agreed upon terms without prior request or approval from the user. Below is a list of some of the requirements by which the platform operates daily:
- All steps of the sequencing process must be validated, well-defined, fully traceable and monitored using statistical methods.
- Each staff member’s responsibilities and tasks must be well-defined.
- The process is constantly monitored and evaluated for identification of unnecessary or weak points and consequent actions are taken.
- All decisions should always be evidence-based.
- Each staff member should have the competence required for his/her tasks and participates in internal and external competence development.
- The facility must maintain a high level of information security.
- Complaints from users are registered and consequent actions are taken.