SOP vs. Policies & Procedures?

Help please, i'm confused with the difference between an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and Policies %26amp; Procedures documents.





More specifically, I am currently volunteering at a small clinical research company. We do have an SOP book/document from before...but we are also looking into creating more specific policies and procedures for tasks such as specimen collection or patient vital signs, etc.





Would it be redundant or unnecessary for us to establish these more specific policies %26amp; procedures if we already have an SOP document?

SOP vs. Policies %26amp; Procedures?
Good question. Policies describe WHAT must be done. Procedures (same as SOPs) describe WHO and HOW.





Sometimes, the WHAT is also included in the SOP, so that you only have one document. But, it's my personal preference not to do it this way.





Frequently, it takes more than one SOP to support a Policy.