What are NHS Technical Services
Technical services within the NHS are made up of the following services:
- Aseptic Units: Carry out preparation and dispensing of patient-specific sterile medicines, including chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition (PN), central intravenous additive services (CIVAS) and clinical trials.
- Production / Manufacturing Units: Carry out the manufacture of batches of medicines, including but not limited to chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition (PN) and central intravenous additive services (CIVAS), clinical trials and gene therapy.
- Radiopharmacy: Carry out manufacturing and supplying radioactive substances used in nuclear medicine.
- Quality Assurance (QA): Are responsible for ensuring that the final products conform to the appropriate quality. They are responsible for the creation and maintenance of the quality system used within technical services and are involved with the assessment of the quality of unlicensed medicines.
- Quality Control (QC): Carry out a range of chemical and microbiological tests on medicines and materials to ensure they are safe to use.
Within the NHS, aseptic units and production units are required to carry out routine chemical and microbiology testing. This is carried out by either a QC laboratory on-site or a contract QC laboratory.
QC laboratories help ensure that the products prepared or manufactured within NHS facilities are sterile, stable and fit for purpose.