THE standard of residential and patient care in Swindon has been praised by a health watchdog following three glowing inspections in the space of a month.

The Orchards Residential Home in Wroughton, 24 Windermere, a care home run by the White Horse Care Trust in Liden, and the Eurodental practice in Old Town all met the five criteria of treatment, support, quality of care and staffing expected of them by the Care Quality Commission.

The Orchards, which had failed to meet its care and welfare duties to patients at an inspection in June 2013 and was slammed for the way it dealt with complaints, was deemed to have made vast progress within a few months after a visit on December 30.

Staff were commended by the health watchdog in a report published this month.

It said: “We saw evidence that good care and support was being provided. There was an effective complaints system. Comments and complaints were listened to and acted on.”

Manager Lesley Wood said the home had recruited new management to better cater to residents’ needs.

Increased supervision and an emphasis on paperwork and record-keeping was key to The Orchards’ swift progress.

She said: “We were pleased with the outcome of the inspection. “We now have a new deputy manager and a new team leader, which means we have two team leaders and four senior care assistants and it makes all the difference.”

The CQC was also highly complimentary of Eurodental on Bath Road, which did its best to accommodate all patients and attend to emergency the very same day.

24 Windermere impressed inspectors with its emphasis on healthy eating. Residents were also well supported in the care home by staff fully trained in adult protection.

The positive findings showed Swindon in much more positive light than of late after a string of damning reports on care homes and wards across town. In November, cleanliness was deemed unacceptable at the Great Western Hospital by CQC inspectors while Cheriton Nursing Home was found in compliance of just one of the five standards use to measure competence.

The Community Access Network home in Drove Road also fell short of achieving four of the five major criteria of healthcare.