UK experts call for national system to evaluate diagnostic tests

doi:10.1136/bmj.39517.609294.DB

BMJ, doi: 10.1136/bmj.39517.609294.DB, (Published 11 March 2008)

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UK experts call for national system to evaluate diagnostic tests

Susan Mayor

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A national system should be introduced to evaluate diagnostictests for use by the NHS, a report published this week recommends.It warns that currently no process is available for decidingwhich of the rapidly growing number of new tests should be used.

Such an evaluation system should extend to tests and scans aimedat people who are well, making information available to thepublic to warn them that many of these tests are not usefuland can be harmful, according to a second report.

The first report, The Evaluation of Diagnostic Laboratory Testsand Complex Biomarkers, notes that about one billion laboratorytests are performed each year in the United Kingdom. "NHS laboratorieshave sophisticated systems to ensure the analytical accuracyof the tests, yet no system is in place to ensure the clinicaleffectiveness and utility of individual tests," warned PeterFurness, consultant histopathologist at the University . . . [Full text of this article]

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