ONE of the most modern hospital pharmacy units in the region has been unveiled.

The new unit, which is at Darlington Memorial Hospital, is designed to allow staff to safely handle potentially toxic anti-cancer drugs.

The County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has invested £213,000 in upgrading the hospital's existing pharmacy.

The investment has created what is known as an "aseptic suite", which will allow powerful chemotherapy drugs to be prepared in a sterile and safe environment.

A change in Government guidelines has seen hospitals around the region investing large sums in upgrading pharmacies.

In the case of Darlington, it will mean that pharmacy staff will be able to prepare particularly toxic chemotherapy drugs using protective gauntlets.

Staff will continue to wear protective clothing including boots, caps and sometimes facemasks.

The exceptionally high levels of cleanliness within the unit greatly reduces the risk of bacterial infections being passed on to cancer patients.

While there are larger aseptic areas in other hospital pharmacies around the country, the Darlington site has benefited from the most modern equipment.

The pharmacy features filtration systems designed to remove all impurities and micro-organisms from the air supply, as well as sealed cabinets in which drugs can be mixed ready for patients.

Graeme Kirkpatrick, the trust's deputy head of pharmacy, said: "The suite is very important because it allows us to meet the latest stringent Government standards on the storage and preparation of these cancer drugs.

"It will give us more flexibility to respond to the needs of our patients, preparing the drugs they need on-site rather than ordering them from elsewhere."

Before the improvements were made, some chemotherapy drugs could not be prepared on-site and had to be purchased from an external supplier.

Darlington Memorial Hospital is now part of a three-site hospital trust, which includes Bishop Auckland General Hospital and the University Hospital of North Durham.

Chemotherapy is one of the most common methods used to combat some forms of cancer.

Powerful drugs are often combined with radiotherapy or surgery as part of a treatment plan.

The hospital is part of the Cancer Care Alliance, covering South Durham, Teesside and North Yorkshire.