The UK’s No. 1 independent health care provider

outpatient visits per year

patient satisfaction rating of good, very good or excellent (Patient satisfaction survey carried out by Howard Warwick & Associates, Jan - Sept 2009)

Corporate governance philosophy

The Group acknowledges that, in return for its licence to operate, it is subject to the rules and constraints of society and stakeholder imperatives. In combining the twin requirements of conformance and performance, the Group strives to maintain the highest standards of discipline, integrity and transparency in supporting an appropriate legal, regulatory and institutional foundation.

The Group’s objective is to create an organisational culture where sound corporate governance becomes a way of life for each staff member.

This is achieved by embedding the following practices in Group strategy:

• Compliance with the law and adherence to commercial legitimacy;
• Fair treatment of employees and business partners;
• Responsibility to the communities and environment in which we operate; and
• Probity, integrity and business ethics in operational practices.

Sound corporate governance principles are embedded in GHG’s business structure, values, policies, processes and systems, and are not viewed in isolation as peripheral guidelines on which a company must report to meet its regulatory obligations.

We appreciate that maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance are necessary to secure GHG’s status as a responsible corporate citizen. We assess our corporate governance strategy and take into account both the size and complexity of our business, as well as the nature of the risks and challenges we face. This assists us in finding the right balance between conformance and the creation of value as a key driver in corporate performance.

Overall structure

The corporate governance of the Group is led by the Board of General Healthcare Group.

This governance encompasses both the business aspects and the service and safety aspects of the Group’s activities, and committees of the Board have been established to deal with the specific components of this.

The Board comprises executive and non-executive Directors. The non-executives are generally appointed by and drawn from the Group’s investors, although the non-executive Chairman, Sir Peter Gershon, is an independent non-executive Director. The three executive Directors comprise the Chief Executive, the Chief Financial Officer, and the General Counsel. The Chief Executive is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Group and its strategic development.

The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for the financial management of the Group and the General Counsel is responsible for advice to the Board and the executive, and for the Group’s compliance with its responsibilities and relations with external agencies.

The constitution and function of the Board Committees are as follows:-

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee is chaired by Sir Peter Gershon (Group Chairman) and has four members, all non-executive directors: The Committee’s responsibilities include: overall responsibility for internal and external audit of the Group’s financial activities and financial reporting; the appointment and remuneration of external auditors; the company’s internal controls; and other financial and business risk issues, including certain compliance functions.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is chaired by Adrian Fawcett (Group Chief Executive) and comprises the Group’s senior executive functional and divisional heads. Its role is to address all Group operational matters and it is the principal executive decision-making body within the Group.

Finance and Investment Committee

The Finance and Investment Committee is chaired by Vaughan Firman, (Chief Financial Officer of Netcare in South Africa). Its role is to review potential capital investments and capital projects, and undertake follow-on post acquisition reviews.

Remuneration Committee

The Remuneration Committee is chaired by Sir Peter Gershon (Group Chairman) and reviews and sets the Group’s remuneration strategy, and salary and benefit levels across the Group, to ensure competitiveness of remuneration. It also monitors the management equity arrangements in place.

Quality and Risk Committee

The Quality and Risk Committee is chaired by Sir Peter Gershon (Group Chairman) and its role is to monitor the safety, effectiveness and quality of the Group’s operational activities. It also monitors the Group’s regulatory compliance, operational conformity to internal policy, and the level of risk retained by the Group.

Patients’ rights

Patients have the right:-

• to be treated with a professional standard of care, by appropriately qualified and experienced staff in an organisation that meets required levels of safety and quality.
• to be treated with dignity and respect in a clean and safe environment that is fit for purpose.
• to accept or refuse treatment and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless they have given informed consent. If they do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on their behalf, or the treatment must be in their best interests.
• to have treatment provided without discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability or age.
• to expect their privacy and confidentiality to be safeguarded.
• to give feedback about the care and services provided and expect General Healthcare Group to monitor, and make efforts where necessary to improve, the quality of healthcare it provides.
• to complain about any services and to have this properly investigated and eceive a timely response.

Complaint management

General Healthcare Group has a formal staged complaint procedure. Our intention is that matters are resolved at hospital level. However there is the facility to escalate complaints to corporate and independent adjudicator level if patients remain dissatisfied with the outcome at the earlier stage.

Whistleblowing

It is important to our business that any fraud, misconduct or wrongdoing is reported, and dealt with swiftly and effectively. Employees are required to maintain the highest standards of conduct and professionalism, and are encouraged to be watchful for illegal or unethical conduct. The Company therefore has a Whistleblowing policy which sets out the process by which any individual can raise a concern, in confidence, about the conduct of others in the business or the way in which the business is run. The Company commits that any concern raised under the Whistleblowing policy will be investigated thoroughly, promptly, and confidentially, and that no employee will suffer any detriment as a result of raising any concern in good faith.