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jobs.telegraph.co.uk
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
CAREERS IN HEALTHCARE PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE
The Daily Telegraph
ADVERTISING ARCHIVES; GETTY
WORLD-CLASS HEALTHCARE
B
upa is the UK market leader in health and care, with 10 million customers in more than 190 countries and over 52,000 employees worldwide. As a large organisation, it prides itself on the training it offers new graduates. Barry Dyer, Bupa’s organisation development director, says: “We aim to attract people who fit in with our values and aspirations. We’re looking for people who have the motivation to exploit the opportunities we provide and want to help them into more senior roles. The calibre of the individual really counts.” Vicky Lacey, who joined Bupa four years ago with a degree in biology, now manages the company’s graduate programmes. “Working in the health industry is really rewarding because we help people to feel better and ultimately live longer, healthier
lives,” she says. “As a graduate you are able to gain a lot of experience and build a fantastic career because the opportunities are varied and exciting.” The company also has a flexible approach to recruiting new graduates. Lacey says: “Bupa looks for personal drive and ambition and doesn’t specify the degree a graduate needs, which means you work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines. employs around 1,800 people at its Tunbridge Wells base, with 700 working in customer services, answering telephone queries and responding to customer feedback. Victoria Georgalakis, customer services director at AXA PPP, says the firm looks for people who have what she calls the empathy factor. “Qualifications and experience are nice, but we prefer to hire people whom we feel can build a rapport with our customers,” she says. “Sensitivity and the ability to think on your feet is essential. Our calls don’t follow a script: staff may be getting the first call from someone who has just been diagnosed with a serious heart problem, or someone who is overseas and in trouble. “We may be the first contact a person has ever had with the company, apart from paying their premiums. So, while call centre experience is useful, it is vital we are competent, sympathetic and friendly. We look at each individual on their own merit.” AXA PPP employs a wide range of staff, from medically trained
“The best aspect of the initial training are the opportunities that are available because Bupa allows you to shape your own career path. You’re given a large amount of autonomy and choice.” Retention and progression are the key measures of success for its graduate training programme, so Bupa gives its graduates three placements in the first 18 months, to allow people time to decide on their preferred career. “The placements last for six months each so the graduates can gain a broad range of skills,” says Lacey. It is hoped the scheme, which includes general management and finance (IT and marketing are to be introduced this autumn), will increase graduate entries to Bupa by a third. There are good financial benefits too. Lacey says: “Graduates can expect salaries of between £24,000 to £28,000, including a generous allowance for mobility, because they will need to move between placement locations.” doctors and nurses who provide treatment to actuaries who calculate the cost of healthcare packages. Opportunities also exist in marketing and product development, but sales is a large part of the company’s business, with the sales force split into two sections: the corporate section sells wholesale packages to firms for their staff, while individual sales are usually done by telesales. “The healthcare insurance sector is a flexible place to work, with plenty of scope to move from one area to another,“ says Georgalakis. “Obviously you can’t cross from customer services into the medical division without that specialist knowledge, but people do move between marketing and sales and customer services.” Customer service salaries start at £17,000, but team managers can earn more than £30,000. For other roles, the salary ranges are commensurate with other sectors. “The healthcare insurance field is an incredibly interesting place to be,“ says Georgalakis. “You’re dealing with real people and their health, you learn about medicine and, best of all, you help people in their time of need.”
Insuring good health The UK private healthcare and insurance sector is playing a significant growing role in the funding and supply of services, says Isla Whitcroft
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hile the NHS still provides the vast majority of British healthcare, the private health insurance industry, which employs around 10,000 people in the UK, is buoyant. A recent report from the Association of British Insurers shows that in 2008, UK medical insurers generated £3.5 billion in income and provided healthcare cover to 6.2 million people. According to Philip Blackburn, senior economist at Laing Buisson, the leading independent provider of statistics on UK health, the private healthcare industry is responding well to the recession and can expect substantial growth in the next few years. A case in point is the current partnership between the NHS and private healthcare providers, which includes the private sector taking on NHS patients through the Choose and Book scheme, which allows patients to book appointments at NHS-approved private hospitals. According to Laing Buisson, in 2006 the NHS
paid around £430 million to private hospitals for treating its patients, and this amount, says Blackburn, is set to grow to around £800 million by the end of the 2008/9 financial year. Another potential growth area for healthcare insurance is in “topping up”, where people have taken out a policy to pay for drugs or treatment that aren’t available on the NHS. “The barriers that currently exist between NHS and private-funded healthcare will gradually disappear and socially we will all become more accepting of paying at least in part for our healthcare,” says Blackburn. “This hasn’t happened yet, nor will it for some time. It is at an experimental phase, with both government and private healthcare providers trying to work out a model for the future.” So the future looks bright for long-term career prospects in the health insurance industry. But what types of jobs are available now? AXA PPP is one of the “big four” UK healthcare insurers and
‘We will become more accepting of paying at least in part for our healthcare’
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009 CAREERS IN The Daily Telegraph jobs.telegraph.co.uk J 3 A rosy outlook While the wider economy may be in need of a cure, healthcare remains robust and full of opportunities, finds Thea Jourdan T he public healthcare sector has enjoyed over a decade
J 4 jobs.telegraph.co.uk THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAREERS IN HEALTHCARE MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY The Daily Telegraph SCIENCE PHOTOLIBRARY Tomorrow’s world The future of our health looks bright thanks to a UK pipeline brimful of new ideas, says Adam Ramsay A tiny heart-rate moni
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009 jobs.telegraph.co.uk J 5 The Daily Telegraph PATHS TO SUCCESS CAREERS IN HEALTHCARE THE DENTIST STARTING SALARY: £28,000 N ilesh Patel, 29, spent his childhood at his father’s small newsagent’s store, and loved the bustle of the shop and the friend
J 6 jobs.telegraph.co.uk THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAREERS IN HEALTHCARE PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE The Daily Telegraph ADVERTISING ARCHIVES; GETTY WORLD-CLASS HEALTHCARE B upa is the UK market leader in health and care, with 10 million customers in more than 190 countries
