A NEW £1.1m ward and new library and training suite at Ramsey Cottage Hospital were recently officially opened.

The Martin Ward, a 31 bed inpatient unit which replaces the former Bride Ward and the Gardner Elderly and Mentally Infirm Unit based at the hospital, has been developed thanks to the generous £1.1 million bequest from the Cyril John Martin Trust made in December last year.

With the requirement to move the original staff training room to fully amalgamate the ward space and realise the site's full potential, the hospital now also has a new library and training suite located near to the Martin Ward, providing much improved learning and development facilities for staff.

Health Minister David Anderson MHK said: "I'm immensely impressed by the new facilities at Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital, as too are the patients who have already benefited from them since the new ward opened.

"I am extremely grateful to Mr Robert Jelski of the Cyril John Martin Trust for this donation and to my predecessor,  Eddie Teare MHK, both of whom worked hard to make this refurbishment at Ramsey a reality.

"The Martins' generous bequest leaves a lasting legacy from the Martins' for the people of the Isle of Man, with medical and learning facilities that will benefit many thousands of people in the years to come.

"This is a historic day for the Cottage Hospital, reaffirming its status as one of the jewels in the Island's health service and securing its future for generations to come.

"I'd like to pay tribute to the memory of Cyril and Eileen Martin, without whom the people of the Isle of Man wouldn't have these new and exceptional facilities."

Cyril and Eileen Martin left wishes for their estate to be used to assist medicine for the public good.

As well as the £1.1 million donation for Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital, the Cyril John Martin Trust also funded a new CT Scanner at Noble's Hospital in 2009, to the sum of £1.4 million.

Robert Jelski, trustee of the Cyril John Martin Trust and a friend of Cyril and Eileen performed the official opening, unveiling a commemorative plaque, which in addition to the name of the new ward will act as a permanent reminder of how the Martins' bequest made the new ward and training facilities possible.

Mr Jelski said: "Having lived and worked professionally all of my life in Ramsey, I know how important the Cottage Hospital is to the residents of the north of the Island.

"The late Mr and Mrs Martin, who spent the latter parts of their lives living in Ramsey where they had enjoyed the friendliness and care of the local community, would be very proud today that their legacy has ensured that the facilities at the Cottage Hospital have been upgraded to guarantee its long term future."

Cyril and Eileen Martin met in Whitehall, London during the Second World War. Mr Martin himself was then employed as a civil servant in Winston Churchill's War Cabinet Office in London but was employed for most of his career by the World Bank.

An economist, he travelled extensively having been based in various countries in Southern Africa, the Middle East and the USA.

Upon their retirement Mr and Mrs Martin lived at Lough Caragh, Eire but following the escalation of 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland in the mid 1970s they decided to relocate to live in the relative safety of the Isle of Man in 1977, where they lived until their deaths in 2007 and 2005 respectively.

The new Martin Ward with its 31 beds includes nine en-suite single rooms plus three six bedded and one four bedded bays, also with en-suite facilities.

The Martin Ward has been built to the latest standards in hospital ward design with a focus on greater patient comfort and safety and dedicated working environments for medical and nursing staff.

There are other enhancements such as the latest technology for infection control, with automatic taps fitted with the aim of reducing contact with communal surfaces which can lead to the spread of germs.

Janet Grib, hospital manager, said: "The staff were simply over the moon when the generous bequest from the Martins came through last year.

"It's been amazing to watch the new ward and training suite develop and I'd like to express my thanks to our colleagues from the department's Estates Services Directorate and all the local contractors who have worked so tirelessly to completely amalgamate and renovate the two former wards so quickly, and to such excellent standards.

"The staff within the hospital have also worked hard and played an important part in the planning and transformation of our inpatient and learning facilities.

"Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital's proud history of providing excellent health services for the people of the Isle of Man in a community hospital setting will continue, thanks by and large to the generosity of the Martins.

"Many of the patients coming through our doors will benefit from these wonderful new facilities which we're all extremely grateful for."

A total of 14 local contractors were used for the design, planning and construction of the new ward, which took approximately 10 months to complete. It was finished on time and on budget.

Officials including Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK at the opening