Oak Valley Events
Oak Valley Events provide medical support to events, and in particular to film and television productions requiring on-set covid testing. Use of a self-contained immunofluorescence assay test (IFA) provides speedy service and results. They required assistance to obtain UKAS accreditation against ISO 15198 and ISO 22870 to provide customers with confidence in their processes, competence and service provision.
Having successfully negotiated the first two stages of the UKAS process, the company needed help to prepare for stage three. This is the stage where a full quality management system (QMS) needs to be designed, implemented and evidenced to the satisfaction of UKAS auditors. QFactorial were able to draw on previous experience of the UKAS accreditation process and knowledge of the new approach adopted to fast-track accreditation for private providers of Covid-19 testing services.
2
months to complete stage 3
2
ISO standards
QFactorial Service offering
Implementation
Starting with a gap assessment against the two standards, we developed a detailed action plan and worked closely with the Oak Valley team to complete the actions. The quality manual was the key deliverable as this signposted all the other critical documents constituting the QMS. QFactorial took the lead on management requirements whilst Oak Valley took the lead on technical requirements. A detailed, multifunctional SOP was implemented for swabbing and POCT. A comprehensive internal audit ensured readiness for the showdown with UKAS.
Following completion of stages one and two, stage three can feel like an ambush to clients who have not previously been exposed to the full force of the ISO requirements, never mind having just 4 months to complete them in. However, even starting further into this period, the task is not impossible and, with the right support, UKAS accreditation can be achieved.
Accreditation to ISO 15189 and ISO 22870 was recommended by the UKAS audit team and the client was extremely pleased.
Q! Feedback
"I cannot rate Q Factorial highly enough, we were stuck with our stage 2 accreditation after being badly let down by a previous advisor. A google search brought up a few companies with suitable looking websites for us to contact and Kevin's was one. He responded within a couple of hours of our email, which was sent after office hours, which impressed us and gave us confidence to proceed further, thank goodness we did! Kevin's Knowledge around ISO standards is fantastic, he is also very good at explaining what is needed, why its needed and how we should do it, he checks in at all hours when we send emails, he meets all his own deadlines and helps us with ours, without our Jedi Master we would not have our positive recommendation to be passed for accreditation that is for sure! Needless to say, we have already booked QFactorial for all our 2022 meetings and audits, I would not hesitate to recommend them / him to anyone."
