Ulster Hospital
Coordinates: 54°35′49″N 5°48′43″W / 54.597°N 5.812°W
| Ulster Hospital | |
|---|---|
| South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland |
| Hospital type | District General |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes Accident & Emergency |
| History | |
| Founded | 1872 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.setrust.hscni.net/ |
| Lists | Hospitals in Northern Ireland |
The Ulster Hospital (commonly known as the Ulster) is a teaching hospital in Dundonald (at the eastern edge of Belfast) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyregan, beside the A20 road.
The hospital provides acute services to 250,000 people in the North Down, Ards and Castlereagh council areas, as well as east Belfast. It is also one of four regional cancer units in Northern Ireland.
History
The hospital was first founded as the Ulster Hospital for Women and Sick Children in 1872. It was initially located on Chichester Street in Belfast city centre. It subsequently moved to Mountpottinger Road and then Templemore Avenue. While located in Mountpottinger the hospital was severely damaged in the 1941 Belfast Blitz.[1] In 1962 it was relocated to Dundonald and renamed the Ulster Hospital.
A seven-year £98m refurbishment programme was announced in 2001. Initially, there were plans to build an entirely new hospital, but these were scrapped. The redevelopment has included an ungraded A&E department, a new maternity block, a critical care unit and a renal unit. In the redevelopment plans were revised in 2006, with the work being split into two phases with total investment increasing to over £340m by 2016. The new plans also include seven new operating theatres and a multi-storey car park.[2] The car park was opened in 2007, helping to solve significant shortages in the past.[3]
In February 1978, after the Provisional IRA's La Mon restaurant bombing, the hospital treated many of the injured.The blast created a fireball, killing twelve people and injuring thirty more, many of whom were severely burnt.
In August 2002, the Red Hand Defenders issued a death threat against Catholic workers at the Ulster Hospital.[4]
In 2005, a Catholic doctor who lodged a religious discrimination case against the Ulster Hospital after being turned down for a consultant's post received £20,000 compensation.[5]
In June 2011, the Ulster Hospital was granted University Teaching Hospital status by Queen's University, Belfast, and an undergraduate sub-deanery was created within the Trust.[6]
In January 2013, amidst the ongoing Belfast City Hall flag protests, the Ulster Hospital began to restrict the flying of the Union Flag to designated days.[7] In response, a loyalist mob that included employees of the trust gathered outside the hospital, leading to the arrest of three people.[8]
On 25 November 2014 an Industrial Tribunal awarded a catholic nurse employed by the Ulster Hospital £9900.00 after it was found that he was subjected to 11 counts of religious discrimination by his line manager. The Tribunal outcome was critical of the Trust's investigation into the nurse's complaint. The Tribunal found that the Trust 'failed to ensure the concept of a neutral working environment'. The Tribunal also concluded that there was a 'culture of tolerance of sectarian behaviour within the workplace'. The nurse also received £1216.00 in costs. Industrial Tribunal Case reference 00113/13FET https://employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/OITFET_IWS/DecisionSearch.aspx
References
- ↑ University of Ulster
- ↑ Northern Ireland Civil Service press release
- ↑ DHSSPS
- ↑ "Red Hand Defenders Call The BBC". August 4, 2002.
- ↑ "Sectarianism News in Brief". 2002.
- ↑ "Ulster Hospital Granted University teaching Status" (PDF). June 20, 2011.
- ↑ "Designated Days". February 27, 2013.
- ↑ "Flag protestor jailed for rioting". March 25, 2014.