Belfast City Hospital

Belfast City Hospital stands on the Lisburn Road in south Belfast. It began in 1841 as the Belfast Union Workhouse infirmary, designed by Charles Lanyon for people who had no access to government healthcare. The site soon grew into a large hospital with over 600 beds by the late 19th century. In 1847 a fever hospital with 159 beds opened on the same grounds to handle outbreaks of cholera and other diseases. By 1883 the infirmary cared for as many as 1,338 patients, including those with burns and incurable illnesses. The hospital is now a 900-bed university teaching hospital managed by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. It is the largest general hospital in the United Kingdom and focuses on regional cancer and renal services. In 2020 its yellow tower block became one of the UK’s Nightingale Hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. The tower, designed by Louis Adair Roche, opened in 1986 and remains a landmark on the skyline. A Greek-born doctor arranged for seeds from the Tree of Hippocrates to be planted on the grounds in the 1960s. Visitors see the modern tower block rising above the city and the older hospital buildings that grew from the original workhouse. A notable survivor is the Northern Ireland Tree of the Year, planted from seeds of the Tree of Hippocrates. The hospital grounds provide an oasis of calm surrounded by modern developments. Medical students from Queen’s University Belfast train here, linking the past with current care. The site also carries the history of nursing pioneers like Miss Ella Pirrie, who introduced training in the 19th century.