patient satisfaction rating of good, very good or excellent (Patient satisfaction survey carried out by Howard Warwick & Associates, Jan - Sept 2009)
CEO’s statement
I am delighted to report once again that General Healthcare Group has delivered another really solid performance across all our key metrics in the year 2008/09. This is the third successive year of outstanding performance.
The improvements put in place over the last three years have demonstrably differentiated the business by quality, scale, employee capability and customer satisfaction.
Our company is an efficient business that continues to have significant opportunity and potential. This is a business every stakeholder can be proud of.
The UK economy has had a turbulent year. Nevertheless demand for private health care remained strong and with an ageing population this dynamic is set to continue.
We are pleased to report industry leading results
Turnover up 7.6%
Operating Company EBITDA up 13.3%*
Patient/customer satisfaction maintained at all time highs – 99% good, very good or excellent, with 98% recommending
to friends and family.
Continued focus on infection prevention with no hospital acquired MRSA bacteraemias in the last 12 months**
In 2008/09 we have seen privately insured and corporate business remain firm but the self pay element reduce sharply. To mitigate this we have augmented and grown our capacity by offering Choose and Book in carefully targeted hospitals. It is expected that the NHS funded activity will continue to play an important role in the independent sector, as the legislative policy of Choose and Book rolls out further. BMI Healthcare however remains very much a private health care provider that makes some capacity available to the NHS to service its customers, where it is efficient and effective to do so. This now represents circa 10% of our caseload.
The objective for the year was to strengthen further our position as the number 1 health care provider in the UK, further emphasising our commitment to delivering the highest standard of service and care to patients, consultants and all our stakeholders.
We have completed a major refurbishment programme of wards and reception areas across 23 of our hospitals and have invested significantly in leading edge scanning and imaging equipment.
We also sought to expand our geographic presence and introduce new services to many of our hospitals through our ongoing investment programme.
We have doubled spend on staff training over the last three years and in the coming year we will continue to invest in the training and development of our staff, recognising them as the best people in the industry.
I am pleased to report that in the last year both our clinical staff and our management have again been recognised as leaders in the sector.
12 of our hospitals were listed in the Nursing Times Top 100 and individual staff have received significant employment, leadership and management awards. Most positively however, as it underpins our business, we are now delivering patient satisfaction almost 10% points clear of the market – a real barometer for future referrals.
In short, BMI Healthcare has had another strong year and we are well placed to continue to leverage our market leading position and exploit the many incremental growth opportunities as the market consolidates.
The business review that follows gives further detail about what has been happening in our business and the industry.
I am proud of the achievements of this company and its transformation into an efficient service-led business that has the potential to extend its leadership and grow significantly.
