Health Minister Michael McGimpsey today officially opened a new accommodation extension at Fairfields Care Centre, a residential and nursing home in Cookstown.

The extension, which provides accommodation for 37 residents, was built to the latest specification, boasting a range of modern facilities including ensuite rooms, profiling beds, heat recovery ventilation and underfloor heating.

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The Minister said: "It is wonderful to see investment in new facilities such as Fairfields Care Centre, especially when they are based in local communities. Moving into a nursing or residential home involves a monumental life change, and the importance of being close to friends and family cannot be overestimated.

"While my Department is committed to supporting people to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible, a wish commonly expressed by the elderly, we also accept that there will always be a need for residential and nursing accommodation.

"Where these facilities exist, they must be of a high standard, in order to provide our older people with a quality of accommodation which we would find acceptable for ourselves, or our relations," he said.

(JM)