Former Barnoldswick NHS clinic at The Butts has now been sold

As reported in Leader Times this week, demolition has started on the former Barnoldswick Clinic at the Butts, much to the chagrin of local Liberal Democrats, including the party’s parliamentary candidate Dr Anna Fryer.

The fate of the community clinic was decided in 2022 when the NHS moved the services to a new base in a former town centre bank, at the junction of Church Street and Newtown.

The original, larger, clinic housed NHS midwives, children’s speech therapists, feet and leg specialists and mental health staff.

It has now been sold to neighbouring business FILTROX Carlson Ltd.

Dr Fryer, a senior consultant working in the NHS and hoping to become the first Pendle and Clitheroe MP, described health services in Pendle as “shocking” and decried the closure of the Butts clinic.

“What's happening in Barnoldswick is a reflection of what's happening to the NHS overall, the systematic demolition of a national institution, with poorer services for local people,” she said.

Since 2018, NHS organisations have been looking at future options for Barnoldswick services. During the pandemic, only midwives were physically based in the Butts building, according to a report given to councillors on Pendle Council’s West Craven Area Committee.

Midwives worked at the Butts clinic five mornings a week where they provided services to women from areas including Barnoldswick, Earby, Colne, west Pendle and Burnley, as well as Skipton and the Ribble Valley.

Lib Dem Coun. David Whipp said: “For years we've campaigned for a replacement health centre, but the clinic has just been flogged off to the highest bidder.”