Lymington Urgent Treatment Centre has received an 'outstanding' rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The New Forest facility, based in Lymington New Forest Hospital, received the rating following an inspection on July 31.

The GP-led service assesses and treats patients with minor injuries or illnesses and refers them to more appropriate services. The CQC's inspection was part of its ongoing checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of the south said: "Staff at Lymington Urgent Treatment Centre provided exceptional care and treatment which prioritised people’s safety and people could access care in ways that met their personal circumstances and also protected equality characteristics.

"The service proactively worked with the community to plan and provide care in a way which met the needs of local people. They also provided easily accessible information, advice and advocacy to people using the service which supported them in managing and understanding their care and treatment.

"I want to congratulate all staff at Lymington Urgent Treatment Centre, who should be extremely proud of the exceptional care they’re providing to people using the service. Other providers should look at this report to see if there’s anything they can learn."

As a result of the inspection, the overall rating for the treatment centre improved from 'good' to 'outstanding', with the ratings for 'responsive' and 'well-led' also improving to 'outstanding'.

The domains of 'safe', 'effective', and 'caring' were not assessed during this inspection and all retain their previous 'good' rating.

Among the findings, inspectors noted the treatment centre's collaboration with a local charity to enhance its paediatric services.

The charity raised funds for the redesign of the paediatric waiting room and new equipment, which helped reduce emergency department admissions by 600 patients annually.

Staff also demonstrated improved patient care through cooperation with local healthcare organisations.

This included partnerships with a crisis team at a local sexual assault referral centre, facilitating access to specialist help.

The report will be published on the CQC’s website in the coming days.