Totally plc (LON:TLY), the provider of a range of healthcare services across the UK and Ireland, has announced that, at its Annual General Meeting being held today, at the Company’s registered office address, Cardinal Square West, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby DE1 3QT at 3.00 p.m., Chairman Bob Holt will make the following statement:
“We are delighted with how the Group as a whole has swiftly adapted to the unprecedented challenges faced by our healthcare services as a result of the pandemic. The demands encountered are huge and constantly changing, and helping the Government to address such events is exactly why we established Totally.
“The Group’s preparation and planning for delivering services throughout the winter are well underway (as they always are at this time of the year) and the winter will likely bring seasonal flu to add to the complexities of COVID-19. Totally is well prepared for this and the services established over the last few months to specifically respond to COVID-19 remain in place and are ready to be mobilised as required.
“As a provider of frontline healthcare our priority has been to continue to deliver services whilst ensuring our staff – who have worked tirelessly throughout these uncertain times – are safe and supporting them to carry out their roles, all whilst ensuring national guidance is followed. This has meant changing clinical practice, ensuring PPE is available to all who need it and supporting staff to work from home where possible whilst providing all staff with the technology to do so. For those that cannot work remotely, the offices have been made ‘COVID secure’ and have remained open.
“We are extremely proud to be standing shoulder to shoulder with the NHS and other healthcare providers in the face of the pandemic. We continue to work closely with them, learning lessons from how the virus has been managed and what else can be done in future to ensure services can be mobilised quickly under additional pressures and demand, which we are well prepared to manage. The Group’s three divisions offer the flexibility to continue doing this regardless of how the situation may evolve in the coming months.
“Whilst the way we secure new business has changed, particularly given that new tenders are not currently available, we expect to continue growing and expanding, although revenues are unlikely to grow at previously anticipated rates. The opportunities to expand existing services, provide new targeted services and work with new commissioners continue to present themselves, and we remain confident that Totally will continue to be a key partner for the NHS and other healthcare bodies across the UK.”
Trading Update
Totally has continued to be quick to respond to and address the unprecedented pressures placed on healthcare services as a result of the global pandemic and continues to adapt its approach in order to meet the needs of the NHS and other healthcare providers across the UK and Ireland. Despite the difficult environment, the Group has continued to trade strongly and in line with management expectations. The Company retains a healthy cash position of c.£10.2m as at 31 August 2020 and does not have any debt financing*.
Totally’s strategy has always been, and remains, to support the NHS in England and other healthcare bodies across the UK and Ireland, helping to manage surges in demand for patient-facing services, irrespective of where this demand originates. Whilst the Group’s divisions have all been impacted differently by COVID-19, Totally continues to provide the highest quality patient care whilst standing shoulder to shoulder with the NHS.
The Group established its three divisions (being Urgent Care, Planned Care and Insourcing) to ensure that opportunities and risks are suitably diversified and that the Group is flexible and able to respond to fluctuations in demand across all elements of the UK and Ireland’s healthcare sectors. Each division is driven forward by leaders and teams who are experts in their respective fields and capable of delivering robust growth in accordance with the Group’s strategy.
Operational Review
The Company provides the following update on current activities and how COVID-19 has impacted the business across each division. With uncertainty still prevailing around what services will be required over the coming months as part of the response to COVID-19, each division is working alongside healthcare providers to agree plans for the delivery of services throughout winter and to implement necessary contingency measures to ensure the Group is ready to respond as needed during this period. Although the demands are constantly changing and it is unclear how these will present themselves going forward, Totally and its businesses remain key delivery partners to the NHS and other commissioning bodies.
Urgent Care
The Group’s NHS 111 services have experienced significant increases in demand during the pandemic and have been expanded and adapted accordingly, including through the increased use of technology, to continue providing high quality patient consultations and care. The division continues to work with NHS England to review how services are provided and to prepare for managing the winter period and any impact from COVID-19. As part of this it is engaging in the new ‘Think 111’ campaign, aimed at encouraging the use of 111 as a first port of call for anyone with symptoms of the virus.
As members of the public were asked to self-isolate if symptomatic of COVID-19 and to self-manage pre-existing conditions at home, Totally’s GP Out of Hours services stepped in to support individuals to do this and to avoid attendance at and admission to hospitals. 111 contacts and consultations have, as a result, increased over the last few months and services remain in place today for managing COVID-19 and other day-to-day healthcare issues. Additionally, Government guidance led to a considerable reduction in attendances at Urgent Treatment Centres (“UTCs”) and A&E departments, with staff moving into other areas of the business, when possible, to ensure continuity of delivery. Notwithstanding, the Company was pleased to be able to open its new UTC in Watford (Hertfordshire) on 1 July 2020, originally set to open in April 2020.
Overall, the Urgent Care division has performed well during the period, responding to increases in demand which has resulted in increased revenue.
Planned Care
As elective care was scaled down across every hospital in the UK over the last few months due to COVID-19, the majority of services within the Group’s Planned Care division (outpatients, physiotherapy and podiatry) gradually reduced. A number of services continued remotely, however, via the use of technology, such as video consultations. Members of staff within Planned Care that had been furloughed due to the temporary suspension and scaling down of elective care are returning to work as services remobilise. Whilst the process of remobilisation is underway it will take time, as the division awaits guidance in relation to the changing clinical delivery models for services and as primary care premises become available for service delivery. The impact of COVID-19 on elective care has led to the delay in the mobilisation of a new contract secured by About Health in Greater Manchester (as announced on 7 February 2020), which was due to start in April 2020 and is now expected to commence in October 2020.
Services across the Planned Care division are now beginning to remobilise, but remain dependant on local commissioners and any updates to lockdown rules.
Insourcing
The Company’s insourcing business, Totally Healthcare (“THC”), saw all services paused in Spring 2020 as decisions to suspend all elective surgery were taken in order to prioritise the response to COVID-19. As a result, waiting lists have grown significantly across the UK and Ireland. Recruitment for THC’s team of clinicians has continued at pace, and the business is well-prepared to meet the increased demand and support healthcare providers across the UK and Ireland to reduce waiting lists, as restrictions around elective surgeries continue to lift.
Some services in Ireland re-commenced as of June 2020 followed by further services in England during August. THC is working closely with commissioners across the UK to mobilise insourcing services as local circumstances allow.
* Following the adoption of IFRS 16, the Company has reported operating lease commitments as a debt on its balance sheet however these do not affect the day to day working capital available to the Group.
