What is the membership of the reference laboratories working group.

The membership of the Reference Laboratories Working Group is as follows:Chairman:Dr B Watt Director Scottish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory City Hospital, EdinburghMembers:Dr S Ahmed Consulant in Public Health Medicine Greater Glasgow Health BoardDr P Christie Consultant in Public Health Medicine Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health, GlasgowDr A S Hutchison Clinical Director for Laboratory Medicine Department of Biochemistry Southern General Hospital, GlasgowDr D C Old Reader in Medical Microbiology Ninewells Hospital, DundeeProfessor W J Reilly Deputy Director Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health GlasgowThere are currently 2 vacancies on the Working Group, one for a histopathologist, the other for a Health Board General Manager. The Working Group is presently considering whether, with the abolition of the internal market in health care, it continues to need General Manager input.The Working Group supplements its expertise as necessary with the support and advice of outside assessors from the Public Health Laboratory Service, Colindale, and others.E.coli O157 serviceThe earliest occasion it has proved possible to document so far on which concerns about quality in the E.coli O157 reference laboratory were formally drawn to the attention of the reference laboratory at Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust (then known as Aberdeen Royal Hospitals NHS Trust) was in September 1994.Concerns about delays in response times first emerged in August 1993. Since then, repeated attempts have been made by National Services Division, the Reference Laboratories Working Group and the Department to resolve this and other concerns. This process culminated in an extraordinary meeting of the Working Group on 22 October 1998, after which it wrote to specify the areas in which improvements were seen to be imperative. These related to management issues, scientific concerns about the methodology used and the communication of results, as well as response times. The Chief Medical Officer decided that the gravity of the public health interest required that these concerns be aired at a formal meeting with the Head of the Reference Laboratories. That took place on 9 December 1998 and once again the concerns were spelled out, as was the urgent need for improvement.The current specification for the E.coli O157 service provided by the Aberdeen Reference Laboratory is contained in the Service Level Agreement, which was most recently reviewed in 1998 by the National Services Division of the Common Services Agency on the advice of the Reference Laboratories Working Group.A meeting took place on 26 February between National Services Division and the Aberdeen Royal Hospitals NHS Trust at which progress in responding to the concerns raised at the 9 December 1998 meeting was discussed. NSD also issued reminders during the year about the outstanding annual report. When it eventually saw the annual report, the Working Group took the view that its long-standing concerns had not been addressed, and recommended to the Scottish Executive that the service had to be put out to tender in order to safeguard this important area of public health in Scotland. The formal letter setting out the Scottish Executive's decision on the future of the E.coli O157