Our Quality Control Department at Lister hospital in Stevenage is a specialist unit providing pharmaceutical and scientific services to NHS Trusts, private healthcare providers and commercial organisations mainly in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and North London areas.
The laboratory acts as a Quality Assurance and Quality Control Department and also undertakes additional testing as a contract laboratory according to individual client Service Level Agreements.
The laboratory has 2 main work streams – Analytical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical and Environmental microbiology. It is regularly inspected and GMP-certified by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency). The laboratory operates an internal QA scheme and participates in a number of external quality assurance schemes.
Services provided include:
- Quality Assurance and Quality Control services in relation to Good Manufacturing Practice for manufacture of sterile and non-sterile medicines
- GMP/GLP Audits
- GMP/GLP refresher training
- Medical Gas testing services by 3 registered Quality Controllers (MGPS)
- Validation of pharmacy Clean Rooms and other controlled environments e.g. operating theatres
- Air Handling Systems validations
- Testing of Operating Theatres
- Pharmaceutical product evaluations and analysis including unlicensed medicinal products (“Specials”)
- Syringe Integrity Testing
- Chemical and microbiological analysis of clean (purified) water for pharmaceutical use and for renal dialysis
- Pharmaceutical microbiology (including endotoxin testing)
- Microbiological Environmental Monitoring
- Food microbiology
- Water microbiology
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa contamination testing of taps and water systems
- Birthing Pools and Hydrotherapy water microbiology
- Hazardous vapour / substances monitoring
- Product defects
- Research and investigations
- Testing of Isolation Suites (HBN 4) and Mortuaries (HBN 6)
Further Quality Control services as per requirements of:
- HTM 2025 & HTM 03-01: Ventilation in healthcare premises
- HTM 2030: Washer Disinfectors
- HTM 2031: Clean Steam
- HTM 02-01: Medical Gas Piped Systems
