For Patients

The Royal Hospitals is Northern Ireland's biggest and best known hospitals complex. Almost two thirds of the Northern Ireland population live within 40 minutes travel from the 70 acre site which is situated only a few minutes drive from Belfast city centre.

Made up of four linked hospitals - the Royal Victoria, Royal Jubilee Maternity Service, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and the Dental Hospital - "the Royal" treats more than half a million people every year and has a worldwide reputation for excellence.

Almost all the regional, medical, surgical and dental speciality services for Northern Ireland are provided by the Royal Hospitals.

The Royal has more than a fifth of all acute beds in Northern Ireland. We have a staff of some 6,000 including a quarter of all hospital doctors in the province and every year treat around 500,000 people - 334,000 as outpatients, 22,600 emergency admissions, 489,331 inpatient admissions and 24,204 day cases.

Royal Accident & Emergency Department relocates

In preparation for the commencement of work on a major new Critical Care Unit at the Royal, the adult Emergency Department is being moved to an interim facility on site on Tuesday, 11 December.

Emergency services will be provided at the current facility until 9.00am on 11 December, after this time this facility will close. All Accidents and Emergencies should go to the new facility from 9.00am.

The facility will serve as an interim department until the completion of the Critical Care Unit in 2011. It can be accessed by pedestrians and vehicles at the side of the main entrance of the Royal Victoria Hospital. Signposts will redirect patients and visitors to the new location.

A&E have set down points at the front of the new facility which are for emergency use only, no parking is permitted.

The new facility has been constructed to the highest standards and meets all health building note standards laid down by the Department of Health (DHSSPS).

A&E in numbers:

The interim Emergency Department contains the following clinical facilities:

<ul>

<li>3 resuscitation bays </li>

<li>10 rapid assessment cubicles, including 2 isolation cubicles </li>

<li>6 secondary assessment cubicles </li>

<li>1 treatment cubicle (also used for emergency dental treatment) </li>

<li>Short stay unit comprising of 9 beds and associated support facilities

</ul>

<a href="Click"> http://141.97.86.240/belfweb/documents/rvh_new_emergency.pdf">Click here for the full site map</a>