UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations
Announcement from UK SMIs
UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations are available on RCPath website from 30th October 2023. Please bookmark or save the new webpage to your favourites folder to ensure easier access to the online resource.
Please email Standards@ukhsa.gov.uk if you have any suggestions for improvement or general feedback.
Invitation to Comment
All microbiologists are invited to comment on the UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations (UK SMIs).
To access current UK SMIs click the following link on the RCPath website: Standards for microbiology investigations (UK SMIs).
To access documents "under consultation" please go to the following link Publications: All Consultations.
Background to UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations
UK SMIs are a comprehensive referenced collection of algorithms and procedures for clinical microbiology.
UK SMIs are primarily a general resource for practising professionals in microbiology laboratories in the UK and assist with the laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases. In addition, this online resource aims to provide support to clinical microbiologists and commissioners of microbiology services.
The process to produce UK SMIs is NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) accredited and certified to ISO 9001:2015.
All UK SMIs undergo wide consultation which helps ensure that all relevant staff have the opportunity to contribute. Reference Laboratories and staff with known expertise are consulted and additional expert views are especially welcome. Proposals for change should be accompanied by supporting documentary evidence whenever possible.
Relevant working groups review all comments received, which form proposals for changes to the documents. All comments received are available on the UK SMI website.