Dear patient,
It is with great sadness that we must write to inform you of the permanent closure of our Scale Hall branch site at the end of this year.
You will be aware that Scale Hall was closed in March 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic. We strive to deliver high quality services for all patients, and we regret that we are no longer able to offer this from Scale Hall.
Provision of primary care services at Lancaster Medical Practice has changed since Scale Hall closed three years ago. Patients can now see a wide range of clinicians at the practice depending on their medical need, and the small size of the building at Scale Hall means that very few appointments, clinicians and services would be available from this building. In addition, the building is not Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)-compliant and there have been incidents in the past against staff who are lone working.
Nearby Owen Road branch is a large site that offers facilities that are more suitable for modern healthcare provision and is located less than one mile away from Scale Hall. Patients will be able to continue using Owen Road or any other Lancaster Medical Practice site, to take advantage of the range of clinicians and services on offer across the practice.
We know that a very small number of patients deposit prescription requests in the post box at Scale Hall. Unfortunately patients will no longer be able to do this and will need to either drop their request at our Owen Road site or order their repeat prescriptions online via the NHS App.
We have closely monitored our ability to provide services for patients since the closure of Scale Hall and we are confident that we can continue to meet the medical needs of the local community into the future.
If you have concerns or feel you could be negatively affected by the closure, you are invited to attend one of two drop-in sessions which will be taking place at Owen Road on Wednesday 4 October 9:30am – 11:30am and Friday 6 October 12:30pm – 2:30pm.
Alternatively, a survey has been set up where you can provide any feedback on the closure. This is available at: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SKMD2X/. Please provide your feedback before the survey closes on Friday 13 October.
Yours Sincerely,
Lancaster Medical Practice