patient satisfaction rating of good, very good or excellent (Patient satisfaction survey carried out by Howard Warwick & Associates, Jan - Sept 2009)
The Group generated £130 million of operating cashflow. This was negatively affected by the working capital outflow experienced during the year. This is primarily due to the change in case mix from self pay (payment upfront) to NHS (prolonged payment days). This position has stabilised, and the group does not anticipate any further material adverse movements in this regard. Working capital was also adversely affected during the year by the catch-up in payments to Creditors, which built up during the introduction of the Shared Service Centre in 2008. This is also not expected to recur going forward.
Borrowings
At the end of September 2009, gross bank debt was £1,925.1m, with unamortised finance costs of £26.7m and cash of
£40.6m – giving a net debt position of £1,857.8m. No new debt facilities were entered into during 2009.
The group has undrawn loan facilities of £72.7m, of which £3.7m is held undrawn as guarantees and letters of credit,
leaving facilities of £69.0m available to finance working capital and for general corporate purposes.
The bank loan facilities require the group to comply with certain financial covenants. The directors’ forecasts show that
the group will be able to operate within the level of its current facilities and will comply with its financial covenants
throughout the forecast period.
