When the new Filton Blood Centre opens on 8th July, the National Blood Service will be pleased to name it a centre of excellence and the largest blood processing centre in the world. As well as its daily testing and processing functions, the new £60 million Filton centre will be able to offer both employees and students a chance to educate themselves further in an environment of increased space and cutting edge technology.
The University of Bristol's MSc in Transfusion & Transplantation Sciences will be based at the new centre and will benefit from the larger teaching facilities. It will continue to contribute to the progress of blood centres and blood safety worldwide. The MSc course was set up with the Bristol Institute of Transfusion Science and University of Bristol in 1999 and has taught over 100 students from UK blood centres and hospitals. The course is suitable for UK and overseas scientists from clinical and non-clinical backgrounds wishing to extend their expertise in the laboratory aspects of stem cell and solid organ transplantation and blood transfusion.
Internally the National Health Service Blood & Transfusion (NHSBT) Scientific & Technical Training team will also be pleased to offer vocational scientifically based courses for different NHS & NBS staff grades and training for pre and post registration Biomedical scientists.