BUPA - An unmatched track record for high quality care
- Bupa Australia - Caring for the health of Australians
- A strong history supporting Australians
- The Bupa Group around the globe
- Who oversees Bupa?
- Introducing Bupa Care Services - Looking after the frail and elderly in the community
- Bupa – Investing in the future care needs of older Australians and New Zealanders
- Corporate Governance
Bupa Australia – Caring for the health of Australians
Around three million Australians rely on Bupa Australia for their health care needs, through the trusted brands - HBA, MBF and Mutual Community.
Our innovative and individually tailored health insurance policies provide our members with access to unique health care services such as home nursing, outpatient rehabilitation and chemotherapy in the home.
Bupa Australia is also piloting a number of other programs including home assessments, provision of wound care assist devices and management of chronic disease. We support a unique GP Home Link service which enables our members, particularly older Australians, to access the support they need to help reduce their risk of entering hospital as a result of illness or injury.
Bupa Australia is part of the Bupa Group, one of the world’s leading health and care organisations. Bupa provides health insurance and care services for about 10 million people in almost 200 countries.
The Bupa Group has no shareholders, which means all profits are reinvested in improving facilities, services and health outcomes for customers.
A strong history supporting Australians
HBA, MBF and Mutual Community are well established and well known brands in their foundation states. The origins of HBA and Mutual Community can be traced back some 70 years, whilst MBF has been supporting the health needs of Australians for over 60 years.
HBA and Mutual Community became a single insurer with separate state based brands in 1990. In 2002, the Bupa Group acquired the merged group from AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd to create Bupa Australia. In June 2008, Bupa Australia merged with MBF.
The Bupa Group around the globe
Since 1947, when 17 provident associations joined together to form the Bupa Group, the company remains true to its founding principles.
The Bupa Group is now one of the world's leading independent health and care organisations with a vision of ‘taking care of the lives in our hands’ and a commitment to helping people across the globe live longer and healthier lives.
This vision encompasses the wider community where Bupa supports a range of charitable giving initiatives to support medical research, education, health and wellness programs. The company regularly exceeds the Business in the Community’s benchmark of contributing at least one percent of pre-tax profits to charity.
The Bupa Group's operations include health insurance, aged care homes, health assessments, workplace health and childcare services. Specialist products from critical illness to life cover and other long-term protection options are available in the UK from Bupa Health Assurance. The Group also provides customers with insurance services through Bupa Travel and Bupa Dental.
Bupa is accountable to its Association Members, a group of around 100 people with broad experience in business, academia, the charitable sector, the medical profession and public life. Association members serve on a voluntary basis and do not receive any financial payment from Bupa nor do they have any financial recompense from Bupa for holding their position.
Bupa is a private company limited by guarantee. As such, it does not have shareholders and is able to reinvest all of its profits back into the business for the benefit of present and future customers. This enables Bupa to take a long-term view when making commercial decisions, without being driven by short-term shareholder considerations.
Introducing Bupa Care Services - Looking after the frail and elderly in the community
Bupa takes pride in focusing on the individual needs of each of its more than 32,000 residents in aged care homes in the UK and Spain, and now Australia and New Zealand. These high quality homes offer specialist care to the frail aged as well as people living with dementia, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, respite care, and care and support for young people with disabilities.
Bupa has been at the forefront of advances in aged care in the UK for more than a decade, including:
- Being the first aged care provider to undertake a census of its residents to better understand their health and care needs; and
- Establishing the first ever university-accredited training program for dementia care, in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Disease Society and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Bupa Care Services are committed to its core values:
- Respectful of the individuality, privacy and dignity of each person
- Accountable for the quality, efficiency and value of our services
- Dedicated to training and developing our staff and to providing excellent care to our residents
- Ethical in handling the responsibilities with which we are entrusted
- Enabling our residents to be as well, as independent and as happy as they can be.
Attracting and retaining the best people
Bupa Care Services now directly employs more than 27,000 people in our UK care homes to provide the necessary care and support for our residents, and to deliver the very highest standards of care. We are committed to continuing improvement through encouraging our staff to upgrade their qualifications to higher caring and nursing skills.
Known as an organisation that sets the standard, in 2006 Bupa’s unique Personal Best program for carers was awarded with the prestigious People Management Award from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The first time this award has been given to anyone from the care sector.
Bupa strongly believes in ensuring their residents and staff are part of the communities in which they live and work, and in giving back to the communities in which they operate.
A financially strong and secure aged care provider
Bupa Care Services is the second largest provider of care homes in the UK, where we operate more than 300 homes, and more than 20,000 aged care beds. We have recently expanded in Spain, taking our total to 43 homes and more than 5,400 aged care beds, making us the second largest provider in the country.
In 2006 our business delivered a strong financial performance, with revenues growing to more than $A1.45 billion. For capital expenditure A$249.9m was allocated to upgrading hospitals, care homes and systems, in addition to adding a further 1,400 new beds to care homes by 2009.
We are committed to growing our business, and our financial strength, through further expansion, upgrading our facilities to meet the expectations and needs of our residents and their families, new environmental initiatives, increased occupancy and continuing our track record of diligent cost management.
Adjusting the mix of services in each home to reflect local demand, for example increasing the number of dementia care places, is a further demonstration of how revenues are reinvested back into the business for the benefit of residents and their families.
In 2005 the Bupa Foundation awarded more than A$2.4mill in research grants for projects to help improve the health and care of older people who suffer mental health problems.
Bupa's credentials in aged care services
The following is a link to a presentation providing an overview of Bupa's credentials in Aged Care services. It was presented by Ian Garner, Head of Business Development - Bupa Care Services at the Guardian and Amity Conference, October 2007.
Click here to view the presentation.
Bupa – Investing in the future care needs of older Australians and New Zealanders
Bupa is committed to growing our business and operations, for the benefit of our members, residents, customers and staff, in Australia and New Zealand.
That means continuing our support for the communities in which we operate through sponsorships and medical and health research, including:
- sponsoring the SA City to Bay Run and the Tour Down Under cycling race; the Melbourne Marathon and the Very Special Kids Piggy Bank Appeal
- supporting the Sydney FC Community Football Program helping to build participation of children in sport, leading to active and healthy lives.
- commissioning and funding research into preventative health care, such as our world first heart failure trial in partnership with Monash University,
- supporting early childhood development programs provided by the Centre for Community Child Health at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
It also means drawing on the best practice experience of our parent company, a global leader in health and aged care, to benefit older Australians and New Zealanders needing individual, personalised, affordable, high quality, care and support in aged care homes, retirement villages, and care at home.
Corporate Governance
The Bupa Australia Group ("Bupa") operates three private health insurers registered under the Private Health Insurance Act 2007, each with its own health fund. Bupa aims to provide customers with high quality health and care products and services. Our goal is to help more people lead longer, healthier and happier lives. Each of the Bupa private health insurers has a Board of Directors. The role and responsibilities of each Board are outlined in more detail in the Board Charter.
Find out more about the Board and view the Board ChartersClick here to visit employee worksite.