Ramsbottom Cottage Hospital closes after 110 years

10:16am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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PATIENTS were moved out of Ramsbottom Cottage Hospital by ambulance on Sunday as the hospital closed after 110 years.

Eyewitnesses said the scenes resembled a military operation' as a fleet of ambulances and six removal vans moved patients, medical equipment and office furniture out of the building. Most patients were transferred to Fairfield Hospital.

Pennine Care NHS Trust used Ramsbottom Cottage Hospital to provide inpatient care to elderly patients with mental health problems but the trust has now transferred its services to improved facilities at Fairfield.

The cottage hospital has now been handed over to Bury Primary Care Trust (PCT), which commissions health services across the borough.

Stephen Mills, chief executive of Bury PCT, said the hospital might be used as the site for a new health centre for Ramsbottom.

He said: "The PCT, in collaboration with the local authority, is currently considering options to feature the site in future strategic use and in particular the possibilities around the site featuring in the series of plans for new primary care resource centres across the borough, two of which - in Bury town centre and Radcliffe - are already under construction.

"We will continue to engage with patients, staff and stakeholders in Ramsbottom about the potential uses for the site and ensure they form part of this exciting development.

"They can be assured that the site will be used to the best effect in achieving local health gain in the context of the modern NHS."

Residents of Nuttall Lane continue to fear that the site may be sold to a property developer.