WAITING times could be cut at Wolvercote GP surgery following a refurbishment and expansion.

A new nurse treatment room has been created, meaning that additional clinics will be on offer and both doctors and nurses will be able to work from the surgery, instead of only doctors.

A wider range of care and treatments will also be on offer.

The surgery, a branch of Summertown Health Centre, has also been redecorated with new lights and a new floor.

The branch, which closed for a month for the revamp, will not take on any more patients. But it is hoped the refurbishment will mean shorter waiting times and a reduced need to send people to the centre in Summertown.

Practice manager Jessica Newman said: “We’re really pleased with the result of all the hard work and we think our patients will find the surgery much improved too.

“Our new environment is more comfortable and attractive and meets all the new standards of the Care Quality Commission.”

The refit cost £14,000, paid for jointly by the surgery and NHS Oxfordshire.

Residents were not offically consulted, but staff and medical bosses had a general idea of how they would like services to be improved.

Patients will be able to see what is on offer at an open day event from 2-5pm on Thursday.

The surgery was at the centre of a scandal when a doctor admitted using Christian beliefs as a ‘complementary therapy’ for patients, and that he refused to refer women for abortions.

Dr Mark Huckstep, who worked at Wolvercote Surgery, and Kendall Crescent Health Centre in North Oxford, is currently suspended from practising.