Downshire Hospital

Downshire Hospital
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
Downshire Hospital
Shown in Northern Ireland
Geography
Location	Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°19′22″N5°41′41″W / 54.32267°N 5.69459°W / 54.32267; -5.69459
Organisation
Type	Specialist
Services
Speciality	Psychiatric hospital
History
Opened	1869

The Downshire Hospital is a 16-bed psychiatric hospital at Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, for both psychiatric intensive-care patients and low secure rehabilitation.

History

The hospital, which was designed by Henry Smyth, was opened as the Down Lunatic Asylum in 1869. ^{[1] [2]} It was extended in 1883, 1895 and 1904. ^[2] It became the Down Mental Hospital in the 1920s and joined the National Health Service as Downshire Hospital in 1948. ^[2] Following the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and provision for patients reduced from over 300 beds to just 16. ^[3] Part of the building was subsequently converted for use as offices for Down District Council who began operating there in October 2012. ^[4]

References

1. "Downshire Hospital". National Archives. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
2. "Downshire Hospital". Historic Hospitals. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
3. "Unannounced Follow Up Inspection Report 19 – 21 July 2017" (PDF). RQIA. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
4. "Down District Council moves to new £11m home". BBC. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2019.

Further reading

• Kelly, Sean (2012). A Grand Old Lady. The Life And Times Of Downshire Hospital 1869-2011. South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.