New Pharmaceutical Facility in Dundee progressing well

Work is progressing well on a new facility currently under construction on the Ninewells Hospital site which will house the NHS Scotland Pharmaceutical ‘Specials’ Service. The NHS ‘Specials’ Service manufactures medicines when available licensed medicines do not meet the specific needs of patients. Examples include the provision of medicines for patients who have swallowing difficulties such as stroke patients and paediatric patients, specialist ointments and creams for dermatology patients and medicines for patients who cannot tolerate preservatives and other ingredients contained within licensed medicines. The two current NHS Scotland manufacturing units based at Ninewells and the Western Infirmary Glasgow will be amalgamated into the new purpose-built state-of-the-art facility. The service will also provide support to Research & Development in NHS Scotland and Scottish Universities by providing medicines for use in clinical trials. Dr Baxter Millar, Head of NHS Scotland Pharmaceutical ‘Specials’ Service said, “This is a hugely important and exciting opportunity for establishing a national pharmaceutical manufacturing service on the Ninewells site that will contribute to the care of NHS patients throughout the UK over the next 30 years and beyond. “The new facility will be fully compliant with the current standards demanded of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities as well as allowing for future increased production capacity. There is also an opportunity for a number of new jobs being created locally with the work of the two existing units coming together. “As well as supporting the NHS, this new service strengthens the existing excellent relationship between the NHS manufacturing units and NHS researchers and Scottish Universities in the provision of medicines for use in clinical trials.” The project to design and build the new facility is led and managed by hub East Central Scotland, the public/private development partner. Construction of the building is being undertaken by Robertson Construction Group and once completed the facility will be maintained by Robertson Facilities Management. Gary Bushnell, Chief Executive, hub East Central Scotland, said, “The project is making excellent progress and we are working closely with NHS Tayside and Robertson Construction to manage the successful delivery of a high quality facility for NHS Special Services.” The building is planned to be completed in December 2018 with the service up and running by the summer of 2019.