Fertility for sale – why profitable assets are coming to market
An ex-employee of hospital group Circle BMI described its former fertility asset as “a nice little profitable part of the business”. And yet all the UK hospital groups are selling them off. Why?
The multifactorial rise in demand for fertility services should make it an attractive prospect for any healthcare operator. The rising age of first-time parenthood, the increase in general fertility issues and the growing cultural (and so legislative) acceptance of same-sex or single parents are all here to stay.
And yet HCA UK is the only big five UK hospital group which has held onto its fertility clinics. Spire and Circle BMI sold theirs off to Care Fertility, as did the not-for-profit Nuffield. Likewise, as HBI reports this week, Fresenius looks to sell off Spanish fertility group Eugin.
The main reason seems to be focus. While fertility is profitable, it’s also equipment-intensive and requires highly-specialised clinicians. Gone are the days when general gynaecologists were the go-to fertility doctors.
Specialist clinicians generally want to work in a specialist clinic where their expertise is more highly-valued and patients want this extremely sensitive care pathway handled by dedicated people.
It simply makes more sense for hospitals to focus on orthopaedics which doesn’t require quite as many bells and whistles.
In other markets where hospitals need to focus on the acute patients, there’s another reason to sell off fertility clinics. Healthcare workforce shortages and rising wages, as well as the demand on resources caused by ageing populations, means hospitals need to cut their cloth according to their means.
If they want to be acute, they should focus on it. If they want to focus on fertility, they should focus on that. Chasing profits is great, but narrowing in on what you do best can be even better.
We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Joe Quiruga or call 0207 183 3779.
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