Chair: TBC
This group focuses on operational issues and is made up of Laboratory Managers from Board Clinical Microbiology / Virology departments. They hold formal meetings but are very active in between meetings in providing a “crisis response” function. They regularly liaise providing e.g. real time information on culture media shortages, supplier issues, health and safety issues and quality matters. They also actively share test consumables between Boards when there are shortages. Clinical Microbiology services are provided across 15 very different Health Board. As policy statements generally do not take a “one size fits all” approach, one of the functions of SMOG is to translate policies and to obtain a consensus on them in order to operationalise them within the various Boards. Members of SMOG are taking a lead for the SMVN on the national LIMS project: on the specification for Microbiology / Virology and on standardising LIMS reporting: this is more complex for Microbiology / Virology due to the requirement for extended use of text-based reporting. SMOG members have also taken the lead for the SMVN on benchmarking and demand optimisation.