A THOROUGH report into Westbury’s healthcare services has been published after an investigation which took three months to complete.

The damning report, presented by Healthwatch Wiltshire, is based on work the organisation carried out in the town earlier this year and highlights the areas which residents would like to see improved the most.

As well as holding public meetings with local people, Healthwatch Wiltshire carried out additional work to find out as much information as possible and provide suggestions for how to improve.

At the White Horse Health Centre, the report found that people have difficulty accessing GP appointments and concerns were raised about whether the centre will be able to cope with increased population arising from new housing.

However, the report also found that people are generally happy with the quality of care they receive at the practice once they get an appointment.

Of the 115 people to give feedback about the centre, 16 gave positive feedback, 37 gave negative feedback and 62 people gave mixed feedback.

In relation to transport, the report highlighted that people feel the location of the White Horse Health Centre is not always easy to access by public transport and that health services further away can be difficult to access by public transport.

Local people regretted the loss of the hospital and thought it would have been a good location for intermediate care which, it was felt, is currently lacking in the town.

Lots of people used the report to bring attention to share their concerns that the dementia club, which, once located in Westbury, has moved to Trowbridge.

A spokesperson from Healthwatch Wiltshire said: “We’ve been pleased to work in Westbury over the summer speaking to local people to find out their views and experiences of health and care.

“We’ve also spoken to health and care commissioners and providers of services.

“Our role is to support local people to speak up about health and care and our aim is to facilitate a productive conversation on the health and care issues which are important to local people.”

A public meeting will be held at The Laverton on Thursday, September 8 to share the report and provide an opportunity for local people and providers to discuss it.