In brief

Sants succeeds Tiner as FSA chief exec

Hector Sants has been appointed as chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He succeeds John Tiner who stood down at the regulator’s Annual Public Meeting. Sants is currently managing director of wholesale and institutional markets at the FSA, which he joined in May 2004. “John Tiner and his senior management team have laid out a clear path for the future of the organisation,” said Sants. “I plan to continue that agenda, ensuring that the FSA itself – and crucially its people – are well-equipped to deal with the complex and constantly changing financial services industry.”

BUPA mulls bid for Aussie health fund

BUPA is said to be considering a bid for Australia’s second-largest private health fund in a deal that could be worth some A$1.5bn (£638m). Reports suggested BUPA has approached MBF with takeover offers in a bid to challenge the country’s biggest health fund, state-owned Medibank Private. MBF said in a statement that it had received approaches from several parties, including private equity and “another industry participant”, but said the confidential nature of the discussions prevented it from identifying the parties or making further comment.

BUPA Hospitals to be called Spire

BUPA Hospitals has announced it will be re-named Spire Healthcare when it becomes independent from the BUPA Group. The name change will take place over the next few months and will be applied to the 25 former BUPA hospitals. The re-branding process will start following completion of the sale of the business to Cinven and will be backed by a publicity campaign. Managing director Clare Hollingsworth said: “We think this is a name to inspire us all in our determination to remain the best independent provider of quality healthcare.” BUPA announced on June 18 that it was to sell its 25 UK hospitals to the European private equity firm Cinven for £1.44bn.

NHS faces surprise superbug visits

The Healthcare Commission is planning to carry out unannounced inspections at 120 NHS hospital trusts over the coming year. The watchdog will check compliance with the government’s Hygiene Code, which outlines 11 compulsory duties to prevent and manage healthcare-associated infections such as MRSA. The assessors will look at the cleanliness of the hospital’s environment as well as practices and procedures that are in place to prevent and manage infection. Where the Commission identifies breaches of the Hygiene Code, it will require trusts to rectify problems within a specified time. If trusts fail to measure up to standards, the Secretary of State could be asked to impose “special measures” and oversee a programme of improvements in the trust, the Commission said.

FSA proposes oral disclosure rules

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has proposed that when consumers are being given oral information on a protection product, a firm must orally disclose information on all of the product’s main characteristics as well. In a consultation paper on the Insurance Conduct of Business (ICOB) Sourcebook, the FSA said that evidence from consumer research shows that purchasers of protection products rely more heavily on oral rather than written disclosures. “In particular, it will ensure that customers have the information in good time before making a decision, which may not be the case if they only receive it in written form after they have already effectively made their decision during the oral part of the sales process,” said the regulator.

Best Doctors signs deal with HBOS

Best Doctors has extended its reach into the UK protection market, after signing a major distribution agreement with banking giant HBOS. The service provider, which provides access to expert medical information and second opinions at the point of care for patients with complex or serious conditions, will be offered to customers who take out the new HBOS Total Mortgage Protection Plan (TMPP). Clive Allison, head of protection at HBOS, said Best Doctors is a “clear differentiator” which adds “genuine value” to protection customers.

Standard extends Guided Option

Standard Life Healthcare has announced that its Guided Option now includes the entire network of BMI hospitals. Guided Option is a “direct referral” arrangement with BMI, BUPA, Capio and some Nuffield hospitals which lowers the cost of private medical insurance (PMI) from Standard Life Healthcare by 15%. Mike Hall, chief executive of Standard Life Healthcare, said: “Intermediaries and their clients are understandably looking for ways to reduce PMI costs and we are thrilled to have been able to utilise the changes happening in the wider health market for the benefit of all of our PMI customers.”

FOS targets non-disclosure

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is publishing a consumer factsheet on the issue of non-disclosure in insurance applications, which aims to explain technical terms and what insurers are entitled to ask. It highlights what happens if the medical information was given to an insurance broker, financial adviser or bank, rather than to the insurer directly; what the ombudsman’s approach to non-disclosure is; and what kind of decisions the FOS can make. The factsheet is part of a series and will be put on the FOS website shortly.

Brits ‘in denial’ over fitness

An estimated 12m Brits do no form of exercise in spite of a greater awareness of health scares and the dangers of obesity. Research carried out by BUPA and Fitness First, the health club chain, found that people are “very poor” at exercise with more than half of those surveyed doing less than two hours exercise a week. But only a third of respondents in the research gave themselves a poor fitness level compared to over half who said they did “little” exercise. Almost 70% of people drink four or less glasses of water a day.

‘Millions wasted’ on employee benefits

UK businesses are wasting millions every year on employee benefit packages that their staff do not fully understand, according to research from Oval Financial Services. The survey of 4,180 employees found that over 75% of employees did not fully understand the benefits package they were entitled to. Over 70% said they do not appreciate more creative benefits such as bikes for work and leisure vouchers and 64% thought health club memberships were not important. Chris Metz, head of employee benefits at Oval FS, said: “A company needs to know exactly what their employees really want otherwise they are just throwing away millions of pounds with little return on their investment.”

L&G targets high net worths

Legal & General has announced that advisers placing high net worth business with the provider will now be able to call senior underwriters direct to discuss their applications pre-submission. L&G said its aim is to reduce potential delays in sourcing both medical and financial information and get clients set up with new policies more quickly. Bonnie Burns, protection product marketing director at L&G, said: “High net worth individuals tend to be cash rich but time poor, so we aim to have a turnaround time of 30 days from receipt of application.”

Alan Johnson new Health Secretary

Alan Johnson MP has been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Health. Patricia Hewitt, the former Health Secretary, announced her decision to step down from the frontline of government and accept a party political role. She said she was standing down for “personal reasons”. Gordon Brown thanked Hewitt for her “outstanding contribution” to the government. Johnson was previously Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

NU opens seventh OH clinic

Norwich Union Healthcare has launched its latest occupational health (OH) clinic in central London. The new Bury House clinic, located in the City, offers executive health screenings, pre-employment medicals, proactive absence and sickness management, and drug and alcohol testing. The clinic is designed to have a relaxed environment rather than feeling like a hospital. It also has a fleet of 30 mobile health screening units to give businesses on-site OH services.

Partnership acquires Annuity Direct

Partnership Group Holdings – parent company of ill-health retirement and care solutions provider Partnership Assurance – has acquired advice firm Annuity Direct. Annuity Direct has provided retirement planning and annuity advice services for 15 years. The firm will continue to be run as a separate entity providing whole of market advice. Stuart Bayliss, managing director of Annuity Direct, said being part of a larger group would enable it to develop in the corporate market and broaden its offering beyond retirement income.

Care ‘postcode lottery’ revealed

People in some areas of the country are 160 times more likely to get continuing NHS healthcare than others, according to the charity Age Concern. Its director general Gordon Lishman said the figures, compiled using data from the Department of Health, “beggar belief”and that such huge variations in access to care have “no justification”. Derby City PCT, as of 31 March 2007, was giving just seven people continuing care, which represents 0.26 people per 10,000.This compares with Harrow PCT which was giving 826 people continuing care – a rate of 41.75 per 10,000 people and 160 times higher than Derby. From October 1 there will be a national framework for continuing care, which will increase the number of people receiving care by about 7,000. Age Concern said it welcomed the move but added it would still leave around 60,000 people missing out on continuing care.

Unum updates IP underwriting

Unum has introduced a new underwriting approach to its individual income protection (IP) products that focuses on how people deal with illnesses, rather than on what illnesses they have had. It will no longer automatically request medical evidence from a client’s GP and instead of asking for a list of illnesses, it will ask questions such as “how much time did you take off work with this illness?” Unum has been piloting the process for six months and claimed it has been “very successful”. It has also made changes to its IP product by reducing the cost for most clients by up to 20% and increasing the maximum benefit available to £200,000 a year.

Mercer’s Wilkinson joins Buck

Buck Consultants, the human resource and benefit consulting firm, has appointed Marie Wilkinson as principal and senior benefit consultant. She will be responsible for continuing the development of Buck’s defined contribution practice. Wilkinson previously spent 30 years at Mercer Human Resource Consulting, where she was principal & managing consultant and a member of the Mercer retirement research group.