The Lagan Valley Hospital is a hospital in

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

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 provides services to people from Greater

, the

Lisburn City Council Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern ...

area and other parts of South East Ulster. 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 Lisburn Union Workhouse and Infirmary that opened during the

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

in 1841. It became the Lisburn and Hillsborough District Hospital in 1921. After a major extension, the hospital was renamed Lagan Valley Hospital in 1947. Following the closure of the geriatric units at Killowen and Lissue in the 1980s, further expansion took place. In February 2008, the trust announced that maternity services were to cease at the hospital in 2009. The decision sparked major controversy and heralded the 'Save our Services' campaign, which was backed by local politicians and local newspaper, the

Ulster Star The ''Ulster Star'' is a newspaper based in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is published by a holding company titled Johnston Publishing (NI) Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper group in Northern Ireland consisting of M ...

. The move was part of measures to cut costs; however it has been claimed that the closure will put other hospitals in the region into 'meltdown'. A senior member of maternity liaison committee stated that it would have a 'detrimental impact', as hospitals in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and

Craigavon Craigavon may refer to: * Craigavon, County Armagh, a planned town in Northern Ireland ** Craigavon Borough Council, 1972–2015 local government area centred on the planned town * Viscount Craigavon, title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom ** ...

were already 'bursting'. Such claims were rejected by Health minister

Michael McGimpsey Michael McGimpsey (born 1 July 1948) is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 1998 to 2016. McGimpsey was born in Donaghadee, County Down and was educate ...

, who deemed them 'unhelpful'. The closure came only two years after the decision to strip the hospital of acute services. Similar controversy was caused by limiting the opening hours of the accident and emergency unit to daytime hours of 8.00am to 8.00pm in 2011. Local politicians and members of the community complained vociferously about the limited opening hours and demanded a full accident and emergency service be restored, and although it was reported in June 2012 that Health Minister

Edwin Poots Edwin Poots (born 27 April 1965) is a British politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998, and was ...

was poised to restore a comprehensive service, this never happened.

References

External links

* {{authority control South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) hospitals Hospital buildings completed in 1947 Hospitals in County Antrim Hospitals established in 1947 1947 establishments in Northern Ireland