The Northern Health and Social Care Trust board has been given an update on a proposed new £5.5m “alongside” midwifery-led unit at Antrim Hospital.
Board members were told the planned facility is expected to be available at the end of 2025 or early in 2026.
A three-suite unit is planned for a two-storey building at the front of the hospital adjacent to the courtyard between the maternity and endoscopy departments. Funding is expected to be provided by the Department of Health.
The development of a three-suite unit at Antrim was a commitment made to the Trust by the Permanent Secretary Peter May when he approved the recommendation of the Trust board to consolidate all hospital births at Antrim Area Hospital.
“The AMU will offer women the choice of midwife-led care alongside the obstetric and consultant-led services which are already in place at Antrim’s maternity unit,” members heard previously.
A reconfiguration of maternity services, which came into effect in July 2023, saw all hospital births within the Northern Trust area move to Antrim Hospital and an end to births at Causeway Hospital, Coleraine.
Separately, at the Trust board meeting this week, a business case for domestic stairlifts and hoists was approved at a cost of £688,000.
Diane Spence, divisional director community care, reported a “slight increase” in demand for the mobility aids. She requested 69 items for 2024/25 “based on current waiting lists”.
Carol Diffin, a non-executive director, who was chairing the meeting, commented: “This is an important piece of work to help service-users keep well in their homes.”