Taunton Vale Healthcare

Published on 26th June 2019

In 2015, Somerset-based Taunton Vale Healthcare took a radical new approach to maintaining its visibility as a business. The 10,000-patient practice merged with a second to reduce overheads and improve efficiency. The practice was going through significant change: bringing two very different surgeries together, which were both culturally diverse; one traditional and the other very progressive.

“We realised we needed to streamline our services” says Managing Partner, Dr. Christian Hornung. “We refocused to see which jobs our healthcare practitioners would be best suited to, freeing up our GPs to deliver high levels of specialist patient care.”

As part of their own restructuring and review process, Dr. Tim Norbury and Dr. Christian Hornung realised that in order to succeed in their venture, they needed an accountant that was similarly forward looking. In addition to streamlining the existing business, the practice also set up Taunton Drs Ltd to generate a secondary source of income.

“We were looking for someone that understood and supported our vision.” Says Christian. “That’s when we came across Simpkins Edwards. I’d read an article about their pro-active approach and invited them in to meet the management team.”

“We connected with Seb Beard and Mark Simic immediately. We were impressed with their quarterly business reports which demonstrated how they would provide up to date information on staffing costs, expenditures, and budget allocations, allowing us to accurately plan forward.”

As part of their set-fee monthly package, Simpkins Edwards deliver a tailored set of services created to meet the client’s precise needs. This includes quarterly advisory meetings at which management accounts are presented for last quarter that track the KPI’s for the practice. As well as also providing ongoing advice and guidance on operational matters as well as tax efficiency in both parts of the business.

The tailored reports are very flexible and include a full analysis of drawing and partners current accounts, a quarterly detailed profit and loss account and balance sheet, future superannuation and income tax liabilities and drawings projections. This enables the practice and Taunton Doctors Ltd to plan for future investment and growth.

Commenting on his relationship with Simpkins Edwards, Christian says “Seb and Mark provide a great service for us. Mark leads on corporate strategy, while Seb provides expertise within the GP and healthcare sector, a combination that is rare to find within a firm of accountants. We openly recommend Simpkins Edwards and regularly invite them to provide support and analysis to the practices that we advise. They are a breath of fresh air and help enable us to provide high-quality service to patients and practices alike.”