CHANGES have seen waiting times at a Gorse Hill medical centre slashed

Hawthorn Medical Centre was rated Good by watchdog the Care Quality Commission in its latest report.

The watchdog, which made a routine inspection in March, said that staff at the centre were outstanding at understanding different groups needs. After changes, average waiting times for wound care clinics had dropped from four days to 36 hours.

Professor Steve Field, CQC chief inspector of general practice, wrote: “The practice introduced changes to the appointments booking service for wound care clinics. A telephone triaging system reduced the time from patients calling for an appointment to receiving an appointment with the appropriate healthcare professional.”

The practice is one of 25 doctors’ surgeries in Swindon, with almost 12,400 patients on its books. Working at the busy surgery are ten GPs and five nurses.

The staff were praised by CQC inspectors, who wrote: “Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.”

Appointments could be booked easily, inspectors said. Changes to systems allowed practice managers to better understand healing rates for leg wounds.

Hawthorn Medical Centre was last inspected in 2014, when it was rated Good by the CQC.