20/02/2009

£7.5m Belfast Health Building Underway

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has visited the site of a new £7.5m medicines manufacturing facility, being built in the grounds of the Royal Group of Hospitals in Belfast.

Construction of Victoria Pharmaceuticals is scheduled to complete later this year.

The facility will provide specialist medicines for a wide range of patients including intravenous feeding solutions for neonates, ophthalmic preparations, controlled analgesia and cancer chemotherapy.

It will also prepare, among others, medicine packs for renal patients, for meningitis prophylaxis, for Accident and Emergency Departments and for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

Mr McGimpsey said: "At present the production of hospital pharmaceuticals takes place across two sites within the Belfast Trust.

"The construction of this £7.5m purpose built facility will improve efficiencies and contribute towards the highest quality patient care.

The scheme is part of the Health Department's ten-year programme of investment in capital projects.

"This project is an important part of the health component of the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland. It will bring at least £3bn of investment to modernise the infrastructure of health and social care services," added Minister McGimpsey.

(PR/JM)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

02 November 2011
Dud Animal Medicines Seized In Co Antrim
Medicines Enforcement Officers have seized substantial quantities of unauthorised and illegal veterinary medicines from a residential property in Ballymena. The drugs haul, worth several thousand pounds, included veterinary antibiotics and other veterinary medicines intended for the treatment of large numbers of farm animals.
20 November 2013
£18m Wasted On Unused Medicines
About £18m is wasted every year in Northern Ireland on medicines that are ordered on prescription and supplied from pharmacies but not used by patients, according to the Department of Health.
25 October 2024
Health Minister Unveils New Initiative To Tackle Health Inequalities
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has announced the launch of Live Better, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at addressing health inequalities in Northern Ireland. The program will initially focus on neighbourhoods in Belfast and L'Derry, with plans to expand to other communities if successful.
29 September 2021
£8.7m Boost For Mental Health Services
Charitable and community mental health services are set to benefit from a new £8.7 million support grant, Health Minister Robin Swann has announced.
19 September 2019
Strabane Gains New Community Health Facility
A new state-of-the-art community health facility is now operating in Strabane. Local residents have access to the building, which includes offices, a meeting room, counselling room, kitchen, toilet areas and large communal meeting room.