Health

Belfast has the largest provision of health care facilities in Northern Ireland. The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust was formed in April 2007 with the merging of the six existing healthcare trusts in Belfast:

The Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust (made up of Royal Victoria Hospital, Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital and Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children).
Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust (made up of the Belfast City Hospital, Cancer Centre and Windsor House).
Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust (made up of Musgrave Park Hospital and Forster Green Park Healthcare).
Mater Hospital Trust.
North and West Belfast Trust.
South and East Belfast Trust.

The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust provide services for more than 340,000 people in Belfast and regional services to the whole of Northern Ireland.

The three main hospitals treated a total of 1,010,471 patients in 2008 - 09, 35.5% of Northern Ireland patient activity.

General health

According to Northern Ireland Census 2001:

65.8% of people had a 'good' level of general health.
19.9 % of people had a 'fairly good' level of general health.
14.4% of people had a 'not good' level of general health.
24.2% of people have a limiting long-term illness.
11.8% of people provide unpaid care.

The average life expectancy at birth in Belfast, based on the mortality rates in 2002 to 2004, was 79.4 years for females in comparison to 73.5 years for males, slightly lower than the Northern Ireland average of 80.6 for females and 75.8 for males.

Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Census Data, Health and Care, Mortality rates in 2002 to 2004.

More information

More information can be found on the following websites:

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency website: www.nisra.gov.uk
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety Northern Ireland website: www.dhsspsni.gov.uk
Royal Group Hospital Belfast: www.royalhospitals.org
Belfast City Hospital: www.bch.n-i.nhs.uk