- GP practice
Lakenheath Surgery
Assessment report published 4 August 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 14 July 2026. Lakenheath Surgery is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 5535 people under a contract held with NHS England. There is a dispensary at this site. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 82% White, 12.2% Asian, 6.8% Mixed, 4.9% Black and 3.9% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 6 decile (6 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others.
This was a focused assessment. We undertook this assessment due to the length of time since our last assessment. We assessed 10 quality statements from across all 5 key questions. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.
Staff kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. They assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Staff supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes. Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity. People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers. The service had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.
People's experience of this service
As part of our assessment, we reviewed feedback from people who used the service to understand their views and experience. This included speaking with people using the service at the time of our assessment and reviewing other feedback available to us. The service shared details of our Give Feedback on Care (GFC) process on their website and within the service. We also reviewed people’s feedback from Healthwatch Suffolk. People’s views had been mixed regarding access to appointments in the previous 12 months, although recent feedback showed improved satisfaction. Most feedback was positive about the quality of care and treatment and the helpfulness of staff. The 2025 National GP Patient Survey showed 69.6% of people responded positively to their overall experience of the service. This had increased to 77% in the 2026 survey. NHS Friends and Family Test feedback showed that 94.5% of respondents rated their overall experience of the service as either good or very good between July 2025 and June 2026.
The service had tried to establish a Patient Participation Group (PPG) to represent the views of people who used the service. However, despite efforts to promote participation, it had not been possible to recruit enough people to form and maintain the group.