patient satisfaction rating of good, very good or excellent (Patient satisfaction survey carried out by Howard Warwick & Associates, Jan - Sept 2009)
Chairman’s statement
I am pleased to report that despite the challenging trading
conditions of 2009/10 General Healthcare has been able
to deliver another excellent set of results, meeting our latest
estimates and continuing to deliver growth in a market where
the number of insured lives has fallen.
The results this year demonstrate the strength of the business
strategy being deployed. The year has seen us deliver
revenues of £855M up £23M and 2.8% year on year.
At £222.1M EBITDA (pre exceptional items) improved
0.7% over 2009 and has increased by almost 50% since the
shareholders acquired the business in 2006.
Over the last four years the Group has been transformed in
financial performance, quality and scale, and 90% of the UK
population now live less than an hour from a BMI facility.
We are just beginning to see the real benefits of the scale
and national coverage that we have created.
During the last year we have acquired and opened new
units in central London, expanded our geographies by
implementing a hub and spoke strategy around our largest
hospitals and at the close of the year we were able to
announce the acquisition of a share in Transform as well
as three Abbey hospitals, located in Liverpool, Stirling
and Gisburn.
FY 2010 has seen changing market conditions in the
healthcare sector – ABI statistics demonstrate a fall in
insured lives of 4.2% (calendar year to Dec 2009), the first
significant negative movement in the market for a number
of years. The self pay sector has been impacted by the
challenging economic climate and has yet to demonstrate
sustained recovery as patients continue to postpone decisions
on elective surgery.
Despite these external factors the company has been
successful in managing patient mix and profit margins. We
have maximised the opportunities to work with the NHS and
have increased the volume of choose and book patients being
treated in our hospitals. This ensures we utilise our spare
capacity and protect our overall revenue and profitability.
As the UK's number 1 independent healthcare provider our
focus remains on ensuring that we deliver excellent service
to our stakeholders – patients, consultants and GPs. We
continue to invest in capital to ensure that our facilities and
equipment meet the demands of the sector. In 2010 we have
completed hospital-wide ward and theatre refurbishments,
built new theatre and cardiac suites, completed endoscopy
and imaging suite upgrades and installed 6 new MRIs and
four new CT scanners. Major change initiatives have included
the upgrading and modernisation of both our pathology and
decontamination services.
We have further expanded our national contact centre
to manage patient, GP and consultant enquires and ensure
the patient is looked after from initial enquiry to final
discharge. We continue to invest in our team of primary care
managers who are critical in managing our GP relationships.
Healthcare relies heavily on the skill and commitment of
its workforce and we believe that our industry leading
performance is a reflection of the hard work, dedication and
experience of all our staff. On behalf of the Board and
Shareholders, I would like to express our gratitude to them.
My thanks also to our consultant colleagues whose support
and dedication is critical to the level of care we provide.
Looking forward, this company enjoys good prospects in the
longer term: as the full implications of the White Paper and
developments in the NHS become clear we anticipate an
increasing role for the private sector. UK Government
spending on healthcare will become increasingly challenging
and partnerships with the public sector will be critical to
healthcare provision in this country.
General Healthcare is well positioned to benefit and take
advantage of these trends.
