COVID-19 and BMT

We will not be scheduling on-site inspections until it is safe to return to on-site visits. JACIE continues to monitor the situation and we have recently started to reach out to inspectors and our network of national representatives to assess conditions in those countries where centres are preparing for accreditation. We are working on the basis of being able to resume at least some activity in the autumn and to give ourselves and our users a ‘horizon’ on which to fix. Needless to say, the safety of our volunteer inspectors is our priority and their willingness to travel and availability will be key to being able to form teams and agree dates with the centres. For that reason, we kindly ask centres for flexibility and patience in this complex task of reactivation and to support the inspectors with all necessary safety measures.
In the case of those cancelled inspections, JACIE will make every effort to assign the same inspection team as inspectors will have already made preparations for the on-site visit.

Centres should continue to submit documents and maintain correspondence with their assigned Accreditation Coordinator. Accreditation Coordinators are available by email or teleconference (on request) to assist you. JACIE understands that the situation will affect centres’ preparations and can offer flexibility with regard to timelines so please notify your Coordinator when you anticipate delays.
Note that where processes take longer than expected, centres may be asked to update information provided earlier and to provide any updated versions of documentation in order for inspectors to have the most recent information and related files.

Centres whose accreditation expired after 31 March 2020 automatically received a 12-month extension of this accreditation cycle and were notified in early April by email. 
Accreditations that had already expired before 1 April 2020 were not extended. Those centres that have submitted an application for accreditation are listed as "In Process" in a separate list from the Accredited centres. This is referred to as "coverage", a term limited to acknowledging that a given centre is in the accreditation process without having yet achieved accreditation. A letter to this effect can be requested by the centre by writing to jacie@ebmt.org.

The JACIE website is the official source of the lists of Accredited Centres and Centres in Process. See www.ebmt.org/jacie-accredited-centres for details. In some cases, a centre may appear in both lists because their most recent accreditation is still in force AND they have submitted an application to renew their accreditation e.g. accreditation expiring in December 2020 and application for reaccreditation submitted in December 2019. It is up to the centre if they wish to proceed with their new application. In any case, JACIE encourages early applications for reaccreditation (at least 12 months before expiry and earlier if possible) to avoid or minimise gaps between accreditations. 

Centres with expired accreditation awards are not listed. A letter confirmed previous accreditation awards can be provided upon request.

JACIE is aware that centres may have to move patients or change services temporarily due to the current extraordinary circumstances. These changes do not require immediate reporting nor JACIE approval. Nonetheless, such changes occurring in centres currently accredited should be reported to JACIE as soon as possible using the Changes affecting Accreditation Report document found at https://www.ebmt.org/ebmt/documents/changes-affecting-accreditation-report. These reports will be provided to inspectors at the next inspection.

Centres should apply quality management principles to these changes including a risk assessment with appropriate mitigation of any identified risks to the extent possible. By definition, these changes represent deviations from normal procedures and practice and so should follow internal processes for planning and approving or for reporting and documenting when unplanned. Standards B/C/D4.12 and B/CM/C/D5.7 apply. 

Regarding changes to patient care, centres are directed to the EBMT COVID-19 resources page where guidance and recommendations by EBMT and other organisations are collated. See www.ebmt.org/covid-19-and-bmt

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, activities in the JACIE office have been affected. It is not currently possible to print the certificates on our official stamped paper. This is expected to be resolved in the coming weeks when staff can return to the office. A PDF accreditation letter will be provided by email in the meantime. Please contact your Accreditation Coordinator with all requests.

The COVID-19 has impacted the activity of our inspectors and the Office, which may lead to delays in the inspection reports. Centres can ask for a letter from JACIE stating that the centre is in process of being JACIE accredited. 

For any queries please contact: jacie@ebmt.org

If your centre is due to send the IA documents in 2020, the process will remain as scheduled. As the audit is only document-based, centres can still present documentation focused on quality management aspects. The JACIE office will send them to the inspectors for review.

Be kindly reminded that your interim audit is due in the same month you obtained the accreditation. If your centre requires some extra time to gather the documents please contact jacie@ebmt.org, We can extend the deadline for a month if required.  

The required documents can be found here: