A hospital in Bury St Edmunds has earned the highest rating of patient safety and experience for people undergoing endoscopy procedures from a national accrediting body.

The Joint Advisory Group accreditation is only awarded to the top performing endoscopy units, and is a reflection of a high quality environment for patients and performance in endoscopy.

The JAG accreditation comes just a month after the private hospital, in St Mary’s Square, achieved a rating of ‘good’ from the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator that inspects all healthcare providers, including the NHS.

Consultant Mr Timothy Justin, surgeon and clinical endoscopy lead at BMI St Edmunds Hospital, said: “I am delighted with the outcome, as the hospital staff and consultants alike have worked incredibly hard to ensure that the services here at the BMI St Edmunds are accredited and to ensure that the best patient satisfaction and outcomes are achieved.

“JAG accreditation is particularly good as its focus is on the quality of the patient journey within the hospital, reviewing the detail of endoscopist performance and patient satisfaction against national standards. It is such a good accreditation to have for our local facilities as it looks at quality of patient journey not just the facilities or services provided.”

JAG is a national body that reviews the performance of endoscopy units across the country and helps to set and maintain standards across departments nationally.

JAG assessment involves an independent review and assessment of factors including patient feedback, staffing, quality of care, patient comfort, training, unit design, quality of equipment, cleaning standards and the length of time patients wait between referral and a diagnosis.