Old Horwich Clinic put up for sale on 'open market'

The old Horwich Clinic on Jones Street was left most empty after services moved out ahead of the opening of the new Horwich Health and Wellbeing Hub on Church Street.

But despite hopes the old clinic could have been kept for community use it as now been listed for sale for around £240,000.

Cllr David Grant, of Horwich South and Blackrod, said: “It’s frustrating because when we going through the design of the health hub we were told that the clinic was still going to be utilised.”

He added: “I suppose the building is old and it may not be of use to NHS staff but there are still uses that could have been made of it for the community.”

Services have moved to the Horwich Health and Wellbeing Hub (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Grant said that he would make enquires about whether the building could be salvaged for community use.

The building is now currently on sale, with the listing saying that it has the “potential for change of use and conversion to residential, subject to consents".

It also says that the building has “further potential for demolition of the existing building and the construction of a block of flats, subject to consents".

But NHS Properties, which took over the building after services were moved to the new health hub says it had tried to find other public sector bodies to take over the site.

The new Horwich Health and Wellbeing hub was first announced in 2016 and finally opened this summer after an eight year wait.

When no other public sector organisations came forward to take over the old clinic, the building was put on the open market.

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An NHS Properties spokesperson said: “Horwich Clinic was recently declared surplus by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, and all existing services relocated into newly constructed Horwich Health and Wellbeing Centre. 

“The site was returned to NHS Property Services.

“We sought to offer the premises to public sector bodies in the first instance, prioritising any expressions of interest or offers, however no interest has been registered so the property has been placed on the open market.

“In line with our commitment to generate best value, any generated revenue from its sale will be reinvested directly into the NHS and any future use determined by the new owners."