Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast

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This article is about the hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. For the hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, see Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh. For the former Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley, UK, see Netley Hospital. For the Canadian hospital, see Royal Victoria Hospital.

The Royal Victoria Hospital (commonly known as "The Royal" or the "RVH") is a hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The hospital, which provides over a fifth of the acute beds in Northern Ireland and treats half a million patients a year, is currently undergoing a £74m refurbishment. This has included an extension to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, new wards in the main hospital, a new Accident & Emergency department and a new maternity unit.

The hospital is located a few minutes from the City Centre in West Belfast.

[edit] History

Completed in 1906, it is a landmark in building engineering, laying claim to being the first air conditioned building in the world. Belfast's Sirocco Works factory pioneered the development of air conditioning.

Frank Pantridge, the "father of emergency medicine", was a cardiac consultant at the hospital for over 30 years. During his time at the Royal, Pantridge developed the portable defibrillator. The portable defibrillator revolutionised emergency medicine, allowing patients to be treated early by paramedics.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician Carmel Hanna worked as a nurse in the hospital.

Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) politician David Ervine was admitted on January 7 2007 and died there there the following day.

During the Northern Ireland Troubles, the RVH was the best hospital in the world for the treatment of gunshot wounds.