Boxford Branch Surgery Closure

As you will be aware, our practice made an application to the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (SNEE ICB) to close our Boxford branch surgery with the plan to consolidate and deliver all our services from our main site in Hadleigh.

The ICB’s Primary Care Commissioning Group approved this application on the 27th February 2025. The closure will take place on 30 June 2025.

From 1 July 2025, all our services previously provided at the Boxford site will be consolidated at our main site, Hadleigh Health Centre.

We understand that this decision may cause some concern. However, we wanted to reassure you that it has been made with careful consideration, and in the interest of maintaining clinical safety and high-quality care for all our patients.

The Hadleigh Health Centre is a well-equipped, modern facilities, with extra capacity to manage additional appointments. Moving all our services to one location means that patients will have access to a greater number of services and staff and it will allow us to provide safer and more equitable care to all our patients.

We have engaged extensively with the local community and all the feedback received was shared with the ICB as part of our application.  Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide feedback and share their thoughts on this matter.

We understand that there are concerns from patients in and around Boxford about travel to Hadleigh, appointment availability around public transport times, parking and prescription collection.

To address the concerns raised, we are committed to carrying out several actions ahead of closure.

These include:

• Conducting a further analysis of patients who solely use Boxford surgery to explore options of transport, home visits (if clinically appropriate), telephone appointments (if appropriate) and options for medicine collect/alternative options.
• Working with the local council to install a licence number recognition machine in the waiting room which allows 2 hours free parking. We are also in discussion about extending this to the surgery car park and to increase monitoring in this car park.
• Installing a 24 hour prescription medicine machine on site. This will allow more flexibility to our dispensing patients who will no longer need to rely on collection when the surgery is open.
• Inviting patients to nominate a close friend or family member to collect medication or prescriptions on your behalf. This could be one person for a group of patients on a monthly basis.
• Arranging and advertising times where a staff member is available in the waiting room at Boxford to help set up patients with Anima. This is our new total triage system, where patients can submit a form on the day they need to be seen and a clinician will triage, if you require an appointment, you will be sent a link to book in. The system reduces telephone call queues, patients can submit Anima forms from 4am on the day they need to be seen.
• Planning appointments so they coincide with the bus timetable for those patients who rely on public transport.
• Increasing our GP sessions by an additional two per week. Dr Khalid has joined us following the retirement of Dr Everitt.
• Offering patients a Saturday appointment at our Hadleigh site, this may help if transport is more available.

We are committing to keeping our patients informed as our plans progress on our website or via text link.

Thank you once again to all our patients who continue to support us.

Partners
Hadleigh Boxford Group Practice

Published: Mar 28, 2025