The drift towards hospitals taking over the running of GP practices has been reversed after two struggling practices were handed back to partnerships.

The Abbey Meads Medical Group and Moredon Medical Centre in Swindon had been run by the Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust after being rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission. The practices, with 30,000 patients, are now to be run by a consortium of local partnerships, the Bath East and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board announced.

The move came after Labour stoked new controversy over the future of GP partnerships, announcing it would consult on abolishing partnerships. Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Labour shadow health secretary Wes Streeting backtracked on the plan, stating: “I am open-minded about whether we phase out GP partnerships or whether we rebuild general practice, but what we cannot do is what the Conservatives are doing, which is allowing general practice to wither on the vine. That is exactly what they have done.”

In Wiltshire the changed approach to the struggling practices came after inspectors reported they had made improvements. The Integrated Care Board chief executive Sue Harriman said: “I am very pleased that the process of finding new management for these practices has taken place quickly and smoothly.

“I would like to thank all those who have worked so hard, especially those at Westrop, Victoria Cross and North Swindon Practice, to make this happen. A special thank you should also go to the team at the Great Western Hospital, who supported the practices through a very challenging time, and helped the teams on the ground make a solid start to their improvement journey.

“For colleagues, they will now be closer to their peers in other practices and have more opportunities to draw upon shared learning and best practice, while also making the most of a much broader pool of clinical knowledge and expertise.”