April 2017
Suffolk Primary Care was formed
Please note our practices will be closed on Thursday 25th & Friday 26th December for the Christmas Bank holidays.
Pharmacies that are open on these days
Suffolk Primary Care (SPC) is an innovative partnership of GP surgeries which work together to provide high quality care to around 70,000 patients across Suffolk.
We currently work from 10 sites and employ 300 people. This includes clinical staff, such pharmacists, paramedics, healthcare assistants and phlebotomists, and non-clinical staff such as care navigators, practice managers and administrators. You can find out more about some of the roles at SPC here.
Our vision is to work in partnership with GP practices across the county. By sharing resources, joining together and finding new ways of working, we can ensure that patients and communities continue to receive the high level of care they rightly deserve.
Suffolk Primary Care was formed
Our Executive Chairman Dr Nick Rayner was named the country’s third most influential GP aged under 40 by Pulse magazine.
We introduced a new model which sees all of our properties owned or leased by our partnership, in turn making it easier for GPs to become partners by removing the need for them to buy-in to buildings as individuals.
Pinewood and Derby Road, which care for 19,500 patients across Ipswich from two sites, joined SPC.
Oakfield moved from its old premises in Exning Road to a brand-new base at Newmarket Hospital.
Combs Ford surgery was jointly shortlisted for the ‘GP team of the year’ award at the General Practice Awards 2020 for its collaborative work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We were shortlisted as a finalist in the ‘improving safety in medicines management’ category of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards for our clinical audit programme.
Our ‘centralised high-risk drug monitoring in primary care’ project was shortlisted as a finalist in the ‘early stage patient safety innovation of the year’ category at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards.
Our practices received ratings of ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for leadership following inspections carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We introduced askmyGP across our sites to make sure all of our patients can get help quickly and efficiently. The system gives patients the chance to log requests online, which we will respond to on the same working day.
Our pharmacy team – which was then part of East Suffolk Primary Care Network – was named Pharmacy Team of the Year at the Primary Care Pharmacy Association's excellence awards.
The Central Suffolk Integrated Neighbourhood Team, which includes Combs Ford, was presented with a silver accolade at the Ipswich and East Suffolk Alliance Awards.
Two extensions open at Haven Health following a £630,000 expansion and improvement project which created five additional consulting rooms.
Our Research Team was named as runners-up in the ‘learning from data, evidence, knowledge and intelligence’ category at the Suffolk and North East Essex ICS Health and Care Awards. They received the recognition for their work on the capsule sponge project, which is being developed to help earlier detection of oesophageal cancer.
A project spearheaded by SPC GP Dr Nick Neill which transformed an unused room into a relaxing space for care home residents to enjoy was shortlisted for a Great British Care Award. The Namaste Room, which was created at the Firs care home in Felixstowe, was a finalist in the dementia carer award.
Additional consulting rooms open at Derby Road and Pinewood following improvement work.
An extension and refurbishment project at Howard House officially opens. The surgery has expanded into a neighbouring pharmacy building, taking the total number of clinic rooms to 15 while also improving facilities for staff.