Musgrave Park Hospital

Musgrave Park Hospital is a regional specialist hospital, managed by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in orthopaedics, rheumatology, sports medicine and rehabilitation of patients of all ages. These specialties are spread out across a large site in the leafy suburbs of South Belfast. The Hospital is named after the 48 acres of adjacent municipal parkland known as Musgrave Park, first opened to the public in 1920.

History
Nissen Huts were constructed on the site of the current hospital during the Second World War by the American army. They were a temporary base for soldiers preparing to take part in the Normandy landings. They have housed various hospital departments in their 44-year history and have only recently been demolished to make way for the new Regional Acquired Brain Injury Unit.

The hospital has played its part in the history of the troubles. On Monday 15 December 1980, Sean McKenna, one of the original seven hunger strikers was moved to Musgrave Park Hospital.

In November 1991, a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA exploded in Musgrave Park hospital. Two soldiers were killed and 11 other people were injured, among them a five-year-old girl and a baby of four months. The 20 lb of Semtex exploded in a service tunnel connecting the Withers block, containing orthopaedic and children's wards and the Royal Army Medical Corps Ward.

The trust works in collaboration with 7 other specialist orthopaedic providers within the NHS in England as park of the Specialist Orthopaedic Alliance

Hospital Services

 * The Orthopaedics (Withers Wards) emphasis makes the hospital one of the leading orthopaedic and musculoskeletal centres of excellence in all of Europe.
 * The Rheumatology Unit treats people with bone and joint disease. It is the leading centre for the treatment of rheumatic disease in Northern Ireland. The Eastern Health and Social Services Board (EHSSB) are currently making plans to relocate Adult Rheumatology services to the City Hospital and the Paediatric services to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
 * Direct Access AHP Services
 * High quality Diagnostic Imaging Services including a new (second) full-body MRI scanner which aims to scan an additional 5,500 patients each year.
 * The Duke of Connaught Unit is a Medical Unit serving the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Rehabilitation

 * Meadowlands is a rehabilitation unit which specialises in Care of the Elderly. It has a particular focus on the rehabilitation of patients following fractures.
 * The MITRE Trust Rehabilitation Unit (MRU) was officially opened in May 2005 by Ireland Rugby player, David Humphreys. The 40,000ft² building cost £3.5 million to build and is purpose-built to provide regional orthopaedic and rehabilitation physiotherapy services. Musgrave Park also boasts a custom hip-manufacturing unit on-site, one of only five such facilities in the world.
 * The MITRE Rehabilitation Unit also houses the only public health Sports Medicine service in Northern Ireland.
 * The Regional Disablement Services provide Limb Fitting Services, the Northern Ireland Wheelchair Service, the Rehabilitation Engineering Centre, the Regional Communications Advice Centre and the Independent Living Centre.
 * The Spinal Cord Injury Unit (Withers Ward 1a) is the Northern Ireland centre for specialist care and rehabilitation of patients from recovering after illness or injury affecting the spinal injuries.
 * Northern Ireland's first Acquired Brain Injury Unit was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on the 14 May, 2006. The £9 million pound state-of-the-art complex provides specialist care and intensive rehabilitation physiotherapy for 25 inpatients and 15 outpatients with traumatic brain injuries. These patients were previously being treated in Forster Green Hospital. The centre is also surrounded by high quality landscaped gardens designed to play a role in healing and patient rehabilitation.