Downe Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal an Dúin) is a local hospital in

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It is managed by the

South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) is a health organisation in Northern Ireland. Hospitals served by the Trust include Downe Hospital, Lagan Valley Hospital and Ulster Hospital The Ulster Hospital, commonly known as the ...

History

The hospital has its origins in the Down County Infirmary which opened in Saul Street in October 1767. It moved to the site of the old horse barracks in Barrack Lane, now Fountain Street, in 1774. A new infirmary was established at Pound Lane in 1834 but by the late 1970s it was already becoming apparent that it was incapable of further expansion. A modern hospital, which was designed by

Scott Wilson Group Scott Wilson Group plc was a global integrated design and engineering consultancy with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. Founded as a civil engineering firm in 1951, the company broadened its range of services through acquisitions. Scott ...

and built on Ardglass Road at a cost of £64 million, opened in June 2009. After services transferred to the new hospital, the old infirmary on Pound Lane closed and was acquired by a developer in November 2014. The redevelopment of the former hospital site at Pound Lane began in May 2018. The development includes a range of new social houses in the form of apartments, two and three storey homes and bungalows. The Infirmary Building which fronts Pound Lane is a Grade B2 listed building and had received various small additions over the years. Most of these were stripped back after its closure to reveal the original Victorian Hospital. The Fever Hospital at the rear is also Grade B2 listed. Both buildings have been incorporated into the development plan as apartment blocks and work began on their restoration in April 2021.

References

External links

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Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority inspection reports
{{authority control South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) hospitals Hospital buildings completed in 2009 Buildings and structures in County Down Hospitals in County Down 21st-century architecture in Northern Ireland