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The NHS’s stem cell transplant team has expanded into Plymouth Science Park with the potential for more lab space to be needed in future.

The NHS SW Peninsula Transplant Service’s (SWPTS) stem cell transplant processing laboratory team follows a clutch of new tech arrivals at the park, in the north of Plymouth close to the Derriford Hospital site.

The SW Peninsula Transplant Service (SWPTS) is dedicated to specialist adult haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, providing diagnosis, monitoring and treatment to adults with a range of blood malignancy health issues including leukaemias, lymphomas and myelomas.

The SW Peninsula stem cell team is a specialist, patient-critical operation working within the Clinical Haematology Department at Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital.

The laboratory team supports the South West Peninsula Transplant Service with analyses, processing and storage of donor samples which support nearly 100 transplant operations a year with patients from Cornwall, Plymouth and most of Devon.

The expansion of the SW Peninsula stem cell processing lab team into Plymouth Science Park will further enhance the clinical team’s ability to provide life-saving cell transplant treatment, within social-distancing regulations, at Derriford Hospital by providing additional off-site capacity for the team.

Rob Wosley, quality manager for SWPTS said: “The move of our three specialist biomedical scientists to Plymouth Science Park gives the lab team the stability they need to focus on improving patient outcomes and facilitating high quality transplants, whilst maintaining accreditation to the FACT-JACIE standards and working within the mandatory requirements of our Human Tissue Authority Licence.

“This is a pivotal move and offers us the potential to add additional laboratory space at the park in the future. The team is looking forward to moving to the park and embracing any future opportunities that may arise.”