Swindon GP surgeries to go under new management

Abbey Meads Medical Group went into "special measures" in 2019

A pair of GP surgeries in Swindon will be taken over by new management from January.

Abbey Meads Medical Group and Moredon Medical Centre, along with branch sites Crossroads Surgery and Penhill Surgery, will be run by a collaborative entity.

It will also include Westrop Medical Practice, Victoria Cross Surgery and North Swindon Practice.

The changes will not affect patients and appointments at any of the sites, it said.

Great Western Hospitals (GWH) NHS Foundation Trust has run the surgeries since November 2019 after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report found they were both "inadequate".

It stepped in after "urgent enforcement action" was taken by the commission against their previous managers Integral Medical Holdings (IMH).

This came after complaints of long waits for appointments and blood test results.

Moredon Medical Centre was also placed in special measures by the CQC.

Kevin McNamara, chief executive of Great Western Hospitals, said he was "really proud" of what the trust had achieved since taking over the surgeries

Both surgeries have since upgraded that rating to "requires improvement" - something the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board hopes will continue to improve under new management.

Sue Harriman, chief executive of the board, said the change "will ensure vital primary care services for some 30,000 residents in north Swindon are maintained, and that the solid improvement work started by the Great Western Hospital team can continue in earnest".

Patients registered with either Abbey Meads Medical Group or Moredon Medical Centre will not be impacted by the change, as people would still able to arrange and access care in the usual ways, the trust said.

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Staff would continue in their current roles, and would be supported through the change by both the outgoing GWH team and the new providers, it added.

Kevin McNamara, chief executive of Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said he was "really proud of what our team in primary care have achieved for the people of Swindon in the past few years".

"There is still work to do, but I am confident that the practices will benefit from the expertise of the new providers, and that their improvement journey will continue," he added.