29 Jul Work has begun to build a new specialist drugs unit at Colchester Hospital
Work has begun to build a new specialist drugs unit at Colchester Hospital.
The aseptic unit – where medications are prepared under strict rules to minimise the risk of infection – will mean patients in north Essex can continue to benefit from tailor-made treatment that’s manufactured on the Turner Road site, including chemotherapy drugs for cancer.
It will provide additional space and improve the flow of the drug manufacturing process to meet increasing demand for aseptic services from the local community.
The £3million drugs manufacturing facility, which will be built next to the existing pharmacy building, is due to open in the summer of 2020.
Stephen Pullen, deputy pharmacy production manager at Colchester Hospital, said:
We’re enormously pleased to see that construction has started after many months of planning and design work
“I look forward to working closely with everyone involved to provide this much-needed state-of-the-art facility that will deliver timely and high quality treatments for our patients.”
Highly-skilled staff will make aseptically prepared products, including chemotherapy drugs, in the purpose built, two-storey building, as well as a range of general intravenous preparations, parenteral nutrition, radioactive injections and blood labelling for use in nuclear medicine.
Nick Hulme is Chief Executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Colchester Hospital.
