Multimillion-pound scheme to improve public healthcare services will be built by Merit
Offsite construction firm Merit has been appointed to design and fit-out a new medicines manufacturing centre in Northumbria.
A partnership of 11 NHS foundation trusts in the region commissioned the project to produce chemotherapy treatments and increase capacity for aseptic services across the region by delivering up to one million dosages of medication a year.
Hosted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the new facility will be based at their manufacturing and innovation hub in the village of Seaton Delaval.
Works to manufacture approximately 87% of the build offsite have begun in Merit’s Cramlington-based smart factory.
The appointment of the construction and digital manufacturing specialist comes after NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care green-lit the scheme following a successful joint bid by the North East and North Cumbria Provider Collaborative.
The facility will also supply a range of injectable medicines alongside ‘pre-labelled’ medicines to support local hospital teams as patients are discharged home.
Tony Wells, chief executive at Merit, said: “I am looking forward to working closely with the NENC Provider Collaborative and seeing this project come to fruition over the next year.
“Our team will be applying our vast expertise in the design of sterile manufacturing facilities in order to bring this facility in operation quicker, so that life-saving treatments can be manufactured earlier to serve patients across the North East and North Cumbria.”
Cleanrooms, production areas, quality control laboratories as well as admin and welfare facilities are included in the plan, which is expected to create around 150 jobs.
Northumberland-headquartered Merit has previously delivered Northumberland’s centralised sterilisation and decontamination centre throughout the height of Covid-19 restrictions.
MMC completion is expected by September 2025, 13 months from contract award.
The facility aims to achieve an EPC-A rating.
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