A new £3.37M Aseptic Suite has opened at Craigavon Area Hospital.
Located in front of the Macmillan Building, the new state of the art unit will be used for preparing and dispensing highly specialised medications like chemotherapy.
The building will be known as the ‘McWilliams Suite’ in memory of a pharmacy colleague Gillian McWilliams who sadly passed away from cancer a number of years ago.
Welcoming the new development, Dr Tracey Boyce, Director of Pharmacy for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust said: “Our pharmacy, oncology and haematology teams work closely to ensure that we are continually improving services so that patients can receive the best possible care.
“Preparation of specialist medications like chemotherapy requires great expertise in particularly controlled environmental conditions.
“We are absolutely delighted that patients in the Mandeville Unit can receive their treatments much more quickly now that our new unit is situated close beside.
“We are also extremely proud to name this building in memory of our much loved friend and colleague Gillian. Gillian played a key role in our Department, so it is very fitting that this major development is a tribute to such a highly respected pharmacist.”
The new suite replaces the previous modular structure attached to the Pharmacy Department. It also includes a counselling room where the team can confidentially support and advise cancer patients on their medication.
Dr Boyce added: “We would like to thank our pharmacy, oncology and haematology staff along with all the support teams who worked hard to complete this project.
“We also greatly appreciate the co-operation and understanding from all of our patients and visitors whilst work was ongoing.”
