health-insuranceNuffield Health, the UK’s leading healthcare social enterprise, today publishes its annual report for 2012. The charity continues to extend the scale and scope of its operations against an uncertain economic backdrop, with a record investment into its hospitals, fitness and wellbeing and corporate sites.

Figures show turnover has increased by 12 per cent in the last year and by 16 per cent since 2010. EBITDA excluding exceptional items, increased by 14 per cent to £82million and is 21 per cent higher than in 2010.

The charity continues to expand and improve services, by reinvesting more than £69million in the year, bringing the total investment over the past two years to £115million, of which more than half was spent on expanding and developing our services. In comparison, the commensurate increase in net debt was just £16m.

Hospitals, whose total revenues grew by almost nine per cent in 2012 to £461.6million, saw £29million worth of reinvestment ploughed back into services and facilities. This includes:

• The purchase of Oxford Musculoskeletal LLP and integration into The Manor Hospital, Oxford
• Refurbishment of Tunbridge Wells Hospital
• Upgrading and refurbishment of Brighton Hospital
• Commencement of new build of the Chesterfield Hospital in Bristol
• Refurbishment of Wessex Hospital
• Refurbishment of Brentwood Hospital
• Installation of digital technology into hospital operating theatres

Additionally, in February this year, Nuffield Health secured planning permission to build a cutting edge hospital on the current Cambridge Hospital site.

Nuffield Health consumer fitness and wellbeing centres also benefited in 2012; total capital spending was £20million; with £8.5million of this invested into state of the art facilities at 25 of our centres. £6million of this was invested to bring Green’s Health and Fitness up to the high standards of other Nuffield Health sites.

2012 saw total membership of our facilities increase from 134,000 to almost 191,000, due in part to the acquisition of Green’s Health and Fitness. And, for the first time in 2013 we broke through the 100,000 barrier of the number of Health MOTs provided free for members in a year. Our research indicates that more than 75% of our members who underwent a Health MOT witnessed a measurable improvement in their health.

2012 also saw the investment of £1million into Nuffield HealthscoreTM, as well as the purchase of 49 per cent of the share capital of Dacadoo, the start-up company developing Nuffield HealthscoreTM.

Now firmly established as Britain’s pre-eminent operator in corporate fitness and wellbeing, Nuffield Health this year opened its fifth stand-alone medical centre in Canary Wharf, bringing the total to 39. By the end of 2012 operations were running at 196 corporate sites, serving 104,000 members.

Russell Hardy, Chair of Nuffield Health’s Board of Governors, said:
“2012 has given Nuffield Health much to celebrate. The successes of 2012 and the continued financial stability of the organisation mean we can now push on into 2013 and continue our pioneering approach to finding new and innovative ways to help improve the health of the nation.”

David Mobbs, Group Chief Executive, said:
“I am delighted by the achievements we made in improving and expanding services for consumers. The strong results we are achieving in difficult financial times clearly show that our strategy to reach out into a wider number of communities to offer fitness and wellbeing services in order to prevent long term poor health is working. Our success has been achieved by the dedication, passion and care from our 11,000 employees.”

2012 saw Nuffield Health recognised for outstanding commitment to both patients and consumers, notably through our response to the PIP breast implants scandal. In contrast to other organisations, when problems emerged, we gave a prompt and unambiguous undertaking that patients affected would receive a full consultation and, where necessary, surgery free of charge.

Our care and quality in running our services was recognised with the Laing and Buisson independent healthcare award for excellence in risk management and we were also named risk management team of the year in the Continuity Insurance and Risk awards. 2012 also saw Nuffield Health awarded the NHSLA Award for Risk Management Level three – the only private provider to hold either level two or three. Our unique Matron led care and the launch of the initiative The Nuffield Way of Caring will ensure continued excellence in patient care into 2013. The hospitals in Cambridge, Glasgow and Guildford were all accredited with the Macmillan Quality Environment Mark for providing high quality cancer care. And, 98% of our patients rated their care in our hospitals as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.

In recognition of the quality of service provided to our fitness and wellbeing clients, both the Nottingham and Surbiton centres won gold in the 2012 Members Choice Health Club Awards – the only industry awards given purely on feedback from members. Nuffield Health was also named the Best Workplace Wellbeing Provider at the 2012 Health Insurance Awards.

The Charity also made a significant contribution to the debate about the part that employers can play in improving the health and wellbeing of the nation, by commissioning Ashridge Business School to carry out research. The result of this research has strengthened our belief in the important role that companies play in the health and wellbeing of staff, and this is an area we will continue to develop in 2013.