Netcare reports modest growth in patient days amid holiday timing challenges

PRIVATE healthcare provider Netcare’s total paid patient days (PPD) are expected to increase by only 1.1% for the first six months of its 2025 financial year due to the timing of the Easter holidays, which will slow activity levels.

- EDWARD WEST

Its directors said in a trading update Friday that activity was influenced by the timing of Easter and school holidays. This year the holidays fell in April 2025, as compared to March 2024.

As a result, activity was expected to slow down in April 2025.

Notwithstanding the seasonal factors, they said the group was on track to meet guidance, including that revenue would grow by between 5% and 6% for the financial year, while PPD was expected to increase by between 0.8% and 1.3%.

PPD for the acute hospitals was expected to increase by about 1.5% for the first half. Increased activity has resulted in an improvement in bed base utilisation across all inpatients to 63.2%, versus 62% at the same time in 2024. In line with sectoral trends, medical cases were growing at a lower rate than surgical cases, which were impacted by declining maternity cases and the categorisation of lower-margin medical cases.