Kingsbridge Private Hospital
Kingsbridge Private Hospital is a private hospital on the Lisburn Road, Belfast.
It is owned by 3fivetwo Group, which also bought St. Joseph's Hospital, Sligo in June 2015 and rebranded it as Kingsbridge Private Hospital Sligo. 3fivetwo Healthcare was founded in 2003 by Dr Suresh Tharma and Mr Ashok Songra. It has now grown to become 3fivetwo Group encompassing 8 healthcare companies making it the biggest provider of private healthcare in Northern Ireland. [1]
The company initially concentrated on maternity services.[2] It was used until 2014 to reduce NHS waiting lists for routine surgery. In September 2015 the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Board admitted that waiting lists for surgery had grown and that they did not have the money to pay either NHS providers or the private sector to bring them down. According to Mark Regan, the Chief Executive, this had led to an increase in patients paying for surgery privately, particularly for orthopaedic procedures. [3] Unlike most private hospitals in the UK it provides a minor injury clinic.[4]
It runs the National Sports Clinic which provides health services for 90,000 Gaelic Athletic Association members in Ulster.[5]
A new MRI scanner, Philips Ingenuity 1.5, was installed in August 2015. The hospital charges £400 for a private scan.[6]
The hospital provides primary care services, such as the Meningitis B vaccination which is not provided by the NHS for older children in the province.[7]
The hospital reported a 66% increase in plastic surgery for breast augmentation between 2013 and 2015, the most common plastic surgery they performed.[8]
References
- ^ "Private health firm buys Sligo hospital". UTV Irleland. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "Mark Regan: 'There's huge health inequality between Northern Ireland and England'". Belfast Telegraph. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "End to private contracts 'helped fuel NHS waiting crisis'". BBC News. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "First private injuries clinic to open". BBC News. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "Medical Matters: When things go wrong, make sure to make the right moves". Gaelic Life. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "£1m MRI scanner lifted into place at private hospital in Belfast". Belfast Telegraph. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "Older children still at risk as Men B vaccine rolls out". Banbridge Leader. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "Massive rise in boob jobs at South Belfast private clinic". Belfast Live. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.