Guardtech recently presented their mobile cleanroom solution Cleancube to scores of NHS delegates from across the UK at the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists’ Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance and Technical Services Symposium (QATS) Symposium at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
Guardtech
Several Trusts have already made plans to install large-scale Cleancube Multi facilities in hospital car parks and other suitable outside spaces and, given the interest at the QATS Symposium last month, the list of interested parties is only set to grow further.
Cleancube is proving to be such a popular solution with NHS Aseptic Pharmacy service providers for a number of reasons – it provides a rapid, pre-fabricated cleanroom solution, either permanent or temporary, for aseptic units in need of refurbishment, repair, upgrades or full-on replacement.
Rather than risk a length period of critical downtime whilst a turnkey construction project takes place, Cleancube container cleanroom modules are constructed at Guardtech’s Suffolk facility, dropped into a car park or warehouse space and ‘stitched together’, ready for immediate plug-and-play deployment.
Equally, if a full-scale refurb of an existing facility is still required, Cleancube container cleanrooms offer an ideal short-term solution into which Trusts can temporarily move their production until a newly constructed host building is complete.
“It’s an ideal solution,” says Guardtech Group commercial director Mark Wheeler. “There’s no need for all the disruption a construction site brings – these modules are pre-fabricated and delivered to site, keeping hassle to a minimum whilst ensuring all the benefits of a world-class modular cleanroom remain true.
“It was such a pleasure to meet so many inspirational figures from the NHS Aseptic Pharmacy sector at the QATS Symposium in October. They all work so incredibly hard and deliver such vital medicines – they deserve to be working in the best facilities available, and we’re proud to play a small part in helping them move forwards towards new horizons of excellence – both in terms of quality and delivery.”
NHS hospital pharmacy aseptic services provide sterile, controlled environments in which highly qualified staff prepare injectable medicines for IV transmitted antibiotics, chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies, as well as nutrition and cutting-edge medicines for cell therapy and clinical trials.
The NHS is already making great strides to move provision forwards thanks to a national report in 2020 for the Department of Health and Social Care by Lord Carter of Coles, which intends to ‘transform NHS pharmacy aseptic services in England by 2026-27’.
The review includes plans to scale up the production of injectable medicines from the current 3.4 million individual doses prepared in English hospitals annually to more than 40 million.
This has led to the development of national ‘Pathfinder’ networks – regional hubs with the capacity to produce high-volume products on an industrialised scale.
Trusts from North East and North Cumbria, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Devon, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are coming together to form a revolutionary network of new facilities aimed at upscaling and improving medicine delivery across those regions and beyond.
Wheeler admitted he was “incredibly impressed” by the programme and pledged to support the schemes with Cleancube in any way possible, having watched an exceptional presentation by Kyle Winn, Head of Production at the North East North Cumbria NHS Medicines Manufacturing Centre in Northumberland, who are leading the initiative.
“The essential bespoke and complex medicines that these units prepare for individual patients, the injectable medicines, the clinical trials, it’s all life-saving work of the highest order.
“Watching Kyle’s presentation at the QATS Symposium and seeing how those Trusts are coming together to innovative, collaborate and push the boundaries of healthcare provision, it was truly amazing.
“We want Cleancube to be regarded in the same manner – as a groundbreaking platform and solution that helps to elevate provision.
“Aseptic units should be fit for purpose and give operators the best chance to deliver quality and quantity. We believe Cleancube container facilities will help Trusts to achieve their future goals and invite any interested parties to get in touch with us at the Guardtech Group and explore the different ways we may be able to support you in moving forward.”