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It will process blood from Birmingham, Southampton, Oxford and the South West and will be open seven days per week, operating 24 hours a day, to deal with urgent patient requests.Work is due to finish on the £60 million centre next month and it is expected to be fully operational within a year. Blood will continue to be collected from local sessions and will be brought to the new Filton site to be processed and tested before being delivered to hospitals.
Construction of the two-storey facility started on the site of several former rugby pitches in October 2006 and is reported to be on schedule.
Because the site is next to Filton airport, workers had to consider flight timetables to ensure cranes were lowered ahead of planes landing.
And the entire site had to be raised as it was on a flood plain and the area had to be checked for unexploded ordinance as the site had been a target area during World War II.
The building will consist of two connected buildings that will provide office accommodation, laboratories, clean rooms and a large manufacturing area.
The NBS centre in Filton will offer a service to 14 million people and will provide blood to 90 hospitals.
With the new site close to main motorways, the NBS will have quick access to routes across the South West.
Staff from the NBS's current site at Southmead Hospital will move to the new Filton premises next month.
The exciting project will provide the NBS with a better-placed facility that will help to save and improve patients' lives.
If you are interested in becoming a blood donor, normal blood collection sessions will continue around your local area.
