Why historic Lancaster house used as health clinic for decades now stands boarded up

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust (UHMBT) has withdrawn clinical services from Ryelands House in Lancaster, including Children and Young People services and adult iMusculoskeletal (iMSK) and Pulmonary Rehabilitation services to ensure the health and safety of patients and colleagues.

Elements of the listed building, such as a leaking roof and ornate plasterwork, no longer meet the Health and Safety and Infection Prevention requirements for clinical services.

All UHMBT services in the building were withdrawn at the end of September 2023 following an environmental risk assessment of the building, which identified significant deterioration in the building integrity within patient and colleague areas.

All clinical activity for Children and Young People services is now provided in temporary locations while the service identifies other suitable locations.

Children’s nurse-led blood clinics have been relocated to Heysham Health Centre where an all-day clinic will operate every Friday - an increased provision compared to what was previously available at Ryelands House.

Children’s Speech and Language Therapies have been relocated to Lune Park Children's Centre, Queen Victoria Centre and the Ashton Clinic to ensure patients can still access their appointments.

Patients requiring iMSK services have been reallocated clinic appointments at Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Heysham Health Centre.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation groups have been moved to the Mazuma Stadium in Morecambe.

The changes have no impact on treatment plans or care received within the new locations.

All existing appointments for those locations will continue as planned.

Scott McLean, chief operating officer, UHMBT, said: “Ryelands House has served the Trust very well, however, the health and safety of our patients and colleagues is vital, so the time has come for us to retire it from the clinical estate until these issues can be addressed.

“We need buildings which meet modern standards of accessibility, infection prevention and maintenance, which Ryelands House does not currently provide.

“The Trust is aware that the relocation of services will impact service users and colleagues who are now required to attend alternative locations for access to services, and we apologise for any inconvenience and disruption that this has caused.

“All patients who are affected by the move of services have been contacted directly and have been given an alternative location for their appointment, and we appreciate their understanding and support.”

A spokesman for Lancaster City Council said: “Ryelands House is a grade II listed building owned by Lancaster City Council.

"Now the current tenants have vacated the building the council has chosen to secure the property whilst it reviews options for its future use.”

Ryelands House is a Grade II listed building on Owen Road in Lancaster.

It was built as a large house circa 1836 for Mr Jonathan Dunn, twice mayor of Lancaster.

In 1874 the estate was purchased by James Williamson (who became Lord Ashton in 1895), who employed Paley and Austin to make various improvements to the estate, including an extension to Ryelands House made in 1883, for which drawings survive.