New Causeway hospital opens

Patients are to be transferred to new hospital

The last of more than 200 patients have been transferred to a new £55m acute hospital in County Londonderry.

The 240-bed Causeway Hospital in Coleraine took 11 years to complete and has replaced Coleraine Hospital and the Route Hospital in Ballymoney.

Patients were transferred to the new hospital in a fleet of ambulances, minibuses and taxis in a major operation from Saturday to Monday.

The Accident and Emergency Department at the new hospital was opened for the first time on Sunday morning.

The Causeway Hospital's facilities also include intensive care, neo-natal and maternity units.

About 300 members of staff from the Route Hospital and more than 700 workers at Coleraine Hospital are moving to the new facility.

I am confident that this hospital will serve the Causeway residents and its many visitors well into the next millennium

Bill Tweed

In addition, about 60 new jobs are to be created in the Causeway Hospital, primarily in nursing and support services.

In 1997, the go-ahead for the Causeway Hospital was given by the then minister for health and social services Tony Worthington.

Work then commenced on a 40-acre site near the Lodge Road roundabout in the town.

Bill Tweed, chief executive of the Causeway Health and Social Services Trust, said it would be the most modern hospital in the British Isles.

Bill Tweed: Delighted at hospital opening

He said he was pleased to have appointed a new consultant for the Accident and Emergency Department.

"Ten years ago there were 12 consultants within the trust, compared to over 30 consultants today, bringing an improved quality of care."

The Causeway Hospital will have a larger number of outpatient facilities than currently exist, such as a Day Procedures Unit which has the capacity to treat 32 patients daily.

Mr Tweed said there had been "hurdles to jump and difficult periods" during the past 11 years, but said the "prize of the new Causeway Hospital has made it all worthwhile".

"I am confident that this hospital will serve the Causeway residents and its many visitors well into the next millennium," he added.

The former site of the Coleraine Hospital and part of the Route Hospital site is to be sold.