Serco and Guy's and St Thomas' sign partnership
Serco and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust sign pioneering pathology
partnership
30 January 2009
Serco Group plc (Serco) and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust today
announce that they have formed a partnership to improve the Trust's pathology
services and target the significant national and international pathology
market.
The 50:50 joint venture - the first of its kind in the NHS - is branded as GSTS
Pathology and will operate and enhance the Trust's existing pathology
capabilities under a ten-year contract valued at around £250m to Serco. This
Joint Venture was agreed on 22 December 2008 with a start date of 1 February
2009.
GSTS Pathology is one of the largest pathology organisations in the UK. Around
550 employees conduct more than seven million pathology tests a year,
consisting of over 1000 different types of test across a broad spectrum of
disciplines including histopathology, blood sciences, microbiology, and
genetics.
For Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust, GSTS Pathology will help improve
patient care and increase efficiency by extending the range of pathology
services offered, improving training, recruitment, procurement services,
logistics, data management and standardising and automating processes.
More than 70% of all health care decisions in the UK relating to the
prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disease involve a pathology
investigation.
In the wider market, GSTS Pathology will offer a range of innovative solutions
for delivering high quality efficient pathology services suitable for other NHS
organisations, the private sector and for customers outside of the UK. The NHS
pathology market is valued at around £2.5bn per annum, with demand for
diagnostic tests growing at around 8-10% a year.
Ron Kerr, the Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
said: "We are delighted to be entering into this joint venture with Serco to
deliver pathology services both to our own organisation and to the wider
pathology market.
"Pathology is an area where clinical advances and new technologies are driving
change across the NHS, and we believe this partnership makes us well placed to
take advantage of new opportunities. Through our combined and complementary
skills and expertise we will provide a comprehensive pathology service, ensure
new diagnostic tests are introduced rapidly for patient benefit and we will
undoubtedly enhance efficiency, both in terms of cost and turnaround times."
Christopher Hyman, Chief Executive of Serco, said: "Guy's and St Thomas' is one
of the best-known and most respected organisations in the NHS and we are
delighted to form this partnership. I believe Serco's skills in service
management, transformation and logistics will complement the Trust's clinical
and scientific excellence. Together we will develop and deliver a world-class
pathology service that will benefit patients and staff alike.
"Healthcare offers a major growth area for us. The NHS has to meet challenging
targets and deliver efficiency savings and we can play a critical role in
supporting this. This partnership with a world-renowned Foundation Trust
demonstrates our ability to deliver innovative partnership models to meet these
significant challenges."
Serco will announce its preliminary results for the full year ending 31
December 2008 on 27 February 2009. This has been moved from 26
February because of the number of other companies in the same market sector
reporting on that day.
For further information please contact Serco:
T +44 (0) 1256 745 900
Charles King, Head of Investor Relations
Marcus De Ville, Head of Media Relations
Notes to editors
About Serco
Serco is FTSE100 international service company which combines commercial
know-how with a deep public service ethos.
We improve services by managing people, processes, technology and assets more
effectively. We advise policy makers, design innovative solutions, integrate
systems and - most of all - deliver to the public.
Serco supports governments, agencies and companies who seek a trusted partner
with a solid track record of providing assured service excellence. Our people
offer operational, management and consulting expertise in the aviation, BPO,
defence, education, health, home affairs, local government, science,
technology, transport and the commercial sectors.
More information can be found at www.serco.com
About Guy's and St Thomas'
Guy's and St Thomas' provides around three-quarters of a million patient
contacts in acute and specialist hospital services every year. As one of the
biggest NHS Trusts in the UK, it employs over 9,000 staff.
The Trust works in partnership with the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing
and Biomedical Sciences of King's College London and other Higher Education
Institutes to deliver high quality education and research.
More information can be found at www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk
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