Altnagelvin Area Hospital

This time we’re leaving Belfast: a quick trip to Derry

For this article, we’re making a little journey out of Belfast and heading northwest to Derry — a city with big character, steep streets, and a skyline shaped by history.

Derry city walls are among the city’s standout features: built in the early 1600s, they still form a walkable ring around the historic centre — one of the reasons Derry feels so “defined” when you visit.
The city sits on the River Foyle, with the Cityside and Waterside facing each other across the water, stitched together by bridges (including the modern Peace Bridge).

Altnagelvin Area Hospital: the North West’s main hospital

Altnagelvin Area Hospital is the key acute hospital for the North West, based in the Waterside area of the city and managed by the Western Health & Social Care Trust.

It provides a wide range of services — including a 24-hour A&E — and it’s also one of Northern Ireland’s designated cancer units.
In terms of scale, the Trust lists 472 inpatient beds and 36 day-case beds, which gives you a sense of how much of the region’s day-to-day healthcare flows through this site.

A major part of the site’s modern identity is cancer care: the North West Cancer Centre opened on-site in November 2016 to provide radiotherapy closer to home for patients in the West/North West (including cross-border access for Donegal patients).

Quick facts

• Opened: 1960
• A&E: 24-hour Emergency Department
• Beds (Trust figures): 472 inpatient + 36 day-case
• Cancer services: designated cancer unit; radiotherapy services delivered via the North West Cancer Centre (opened Nov 2016)

Fun facts

• In 2008 my daughter was born there