The HUB-ICO-IDIBELL Biobank is a public and non-profit service that collects, preserves, and manages human biological samples (blood, tissues, DNA) for biomedical research. Some of them are samples of various diseases that are of great interest for biomedical research, therefore the Biobank offers a portfolio of services to facilitate the research that can be devised around it, managing these resources under a quality standard.
To do so with guarantees, the Biobank is authorised by the Government of Catalonia, registered in the National Register of Biobanks of the Carlos III Health Institute, and is part of the National Platform of Biobanks and Biomodels, as well as the Network of Tumour Banks of Catalonia.
ISO9001 certification: a seal of quality
In addition, the Biobank has also been certified by the ISO 9001 standard since 2017, a quality standard recognized nationally and internationally that is based on the continuous improvement of processes and that demonstrates its commitment to quality of service and customer satisfaction. A follow-up audit is carried out annually by an external entity (in this case, Applus+) to ensure compliance with quality standards and, every three years, the ISO certification is renewed.
The scope of the audit includes the reception, registration, processing, coding, storage, conservation and transfer of human biological samples and associated data, both from the prospective collections under the Biobank regime (cardiology, rare diseases, nephrology, tumor bank, neurological tissue bank, Clostridium and COVID-19), as well as requests for the provision of sample processing and custody services from internal and external customers.
The last external audit was carried out on Monday, June 30, and the renewal was satisfactorily completed. Doing so implies, in general terms, the maintenance and continuous improvement of all the processes established in the Biobank through the analysis of the context, the determination of objectives, the establishment of actions to face risks and opportunities and change planning.
With improvements that move forward into the future
As strengths, it is worth highlighting the change in the facilities that will allow the growth of the service in the coming years, the reorientation of the annual objectives set and the definition of the actions to achieve them, as well as the review report by the Management and the dynamics of recording and management of incidents.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research centre created in 2004 and specialising in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1,400 scientific articles a year. L’IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Health Institute, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus d’Excelencia Internacional of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the HR Excellence in Research program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Centre of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).