THE PRIORY Group, best known for its London clinic favoured by ailing celebrities, could create up to 700 jobs in Northern Ireland under a proposed £35 million plan to expand its services to the North.
Philip Scott, the Belfast-born chief executive of the Priory Group, unveiled details of the expansion plan during a visit to the city yesterday to open the group’s first home for older people in the North.
The group, an independent provider of mental healthcare, has invested £3.5 million in a new 64- bed care home in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.
Mr Scott said the firm intended to build on “strong and established areas of expertise” by expanding into the older people care home sector market in the North. The new Ben Madigan care home marked the first part of the Priory Group’s “progressive plans”.
Mr Scott, a former Shorts apprentice who began his career as a nurse with Belfast City Hospital, said the care home represented “the beginning of a new era for the business”.
The Priory Group, which was set up in 1980, operates more than 50 hospitals, schools and care homes throughout the UK.
Although its London clinic has become famous for its celebrity patient list, which recently included Britain's Got Talentrunner-up Susan Boyle, the majority of its business comes through referrals from Britain's National Health Service.
Mr Scott said the Priory Group wanted to develop a portfolio of care homes for older people in the North. The group has already identified potential sites in Omagh, Banbridge, Warrenpoint, Lurgan, Coleraine and Portadown.
It was also looking at opportunities to develop schools and hospitals in Northern Ireland, he said.
Mr Scott added that it hoped to roll out its expansion plans for the North over the next three years. He said the Priory Group would like to have a bed capacity of 700 in operation in Northern Ireland by 2012.
