Tumi Nkosi Managing Director – Emergency services (Netcare 911)

South African review - Emergency services operating review

Our business

Netcare 911 is the leading provider of emergency medical services (EMS) in Africa, and is proud to offer fully integrated and efficient solutions to patients in crisis situations. Our core competencies are world-class emergency medical assistance, evacuation by road or air transportation and telephonic medical advisory services. We also offer a range of innovative products such as specialised travel advice, trauma support, Health-on-Line, capitation arrangements with medical schemes, and fund management for medical schemes and corporate clients.

Our emergency management meets international standards, and our network of 169 emergency vehicles and 70 rapid response vehicles, crewed by advanced life support paramedics, is well equipped to handle any medical emergency.

Netcare 911 employs state-of-the-art technology to manage emergency calls and dispatching of emergency resources in South Africa (SA). Our 24-hour Emergency Operations Centre, operating in Midrand, Johannesburg, is the hub of our network and is staffed with trained emergency call agents and resource coordinators able to manage pre-hospital emergencies and inter-facility transfers.

Our Aeromedical division consists of a dedicated fleet of fixed wing and helicopter air ambulances, managing and providing aeromedical evacuations for a large number of insured and private clients locally and internationally.

Netcare 911 International Assistance provides a 24-hour contact centre for outbound and inbound travellers, supporting them in times of medical need. As partners of the International Assistance Group, a global alliance of independent assistance companies, and using our global referral system, we manage medical emergencies for insured South Africans across the world.

Our Special Projects division has built a core competency in providing mining, industrial and commercial clients with turn-key emergency medical solutions for all on-site and remote medical requirements.

In conjunction with Netcare Education, Netcare 911 operates the largest private EMS training centre in Africa. The School of Emergency and Critical Care is led by a dynamic team of experienced instructors and academics in the EMS field and is accredited by the Health Professional Council of SA.

The year in review

Netcare 911’s revenue growth has been driven primarily by an increase in membership in schemes with which we have capitation arrangements. The division recorded a 15.1% growth in total lives under management to 7.5 million lives. Over the year we focused on retaining clients and developing a solid business platform to support growth in the coming years.

We have achieved significant efficiencies across Netcare 911’s divisions, especially in finance, the call centre and operations, through our “Back to Basics” programme. It was launched in June this year to extract efficiencies and develop robust measuring and reporting tools for the business. We believe that the programme’s success has placed Netcare 911 in a highly competitive position.

Further cost-saving initiatives were implemented with emphasis on reducing overtime and exiting non-core services. These have yielded positive results for the business.

During the year, Netcare 911 assisted more than 2 800 indigent patients at a cost of R13 million.

We have maintained close and productive working relationships with our medical scheme and corporate clients. This has been achieved through a concerted effort to engage with them and ensure service delivery by all our divisions.

The market continues to be attractive to small, regional EMS providers, the majority of whom are located in remote areas in SA. Management has moved swiftly to maintain and win market share by re-allocating and introducing new resources in strategic areas. We have increased our SA footprint by introducing new branches in the Rustenburg, East London and Mpumalanga areas.

A critical shortage of skilled paramedics and doctors with training and experience in emergency medicine remains a challenge to the business, with the pool of doctors and paramedics constantly decreasing. As a result, the demand for our experienced and specialised staff remains high. We continue to maintain competitive remuneration and people management policies in our efforts to maintain our position as the employer of choice.

We welcome the introduction of the new training programme for Emergency Care Technicians by the Department of Health. However, we are concerned that the new two-year course, which replaces a number of shorter courses, might have the unintended consequence of contributing to skills shortages in the industry by delaying the entry of new technicians into the market. We hope the programme is implemented in a proactive and coordinated manner to prevent this.

Establishing an approved Reference Price List (RPL) to ensure a sustainable EMS sector is ongoing.

Prospects

Our focus for the year ahead will remain on building and harnessing relationships with our clients and providing a service that adds value to their businesses. We are evaluating a number of strategic growth opportunities outside of SA through our International Assistance and Special Projects divisions. These opportunities are being carefully investigated to ensure they will provide sustainable value for Netcare 911.