Life Healthcare : Sustainability Report 2024

Employees 7

Suppliers 8

Society 9

GROWTH

Strategic pillars

EFFICIENCY

Integrated Annual

Report 2024

Our primary report to stakeholders, provides material information on who we are as a company, why and how we conduct our business, and the value we create for our stakeholders.

Audited Group Annual

Financial Statements 2024

Sets out the Group’s audited annual financial statements, including the independent auditor’s report.

Sustainability

Report 2024

Describes our environmental

and social impacts and

governance practices, which determine how we run our organisation to create value for stakeholders. Provides numerous data points of interest to shareholders, analysts and ESG rating agencies.

Remuneration

Report 2024

Explains our remuneration philosophy and how we implemented this in the current year and prior years. Includes a remuneration summary

on page .

Summarised information contained in:

Delivered through our Group objectives

• 
  Developing systems to measure, monitor and manage energy, water and waste to fully understand our carbon footprint
• 
  Consistently reducing our carbon emissions to net zero by 2050
• 
  Consistently reducing our waste to landfill to zero by 2030
• 
  Supporting regulatory environmental initiatives
• 
  Engaging our workforce and wider communities to create a culture of environmental responsibility

• 
  Contributing to community upliftment by supporting education, health and community improvement initiatives
• 
  Delivering high-quality healthcare services through a workforce that reflects the diverse demographics of our regions
• Investment in innovative healthcare solutions to improve community health outcomes

• Providing consistent, transparent internal and external ESG reports
• 
  Achieving zero waste to landfill by 2030
• 
  Installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at all viable facilities
• 
  Introducing water conservation initiatives at all viable facilities
• 
  Aligning new build initiatives with energy efficiency principles
• 
  Identifying appropriate, sustainable and responsible carbon offset initiatives
• 
  100% of all medical and radioactive waste disposed of responsibly
• 
  Reduce southern Africa carbon emissions by 20% by 2030 based on the 2023 assured baseline data
• 
  Implement 9MWh PV solar across our facilities in 2025
• 
  A reduction in carbon emissions was included as a measure in the single incentive plan (SIP) in FY2024
• 
  Environmental targets included in FY2025.

• 
  Annual investment in community upliftment initiatives in the regions in which we operate
• 
  Investment in workforce development, training and education
• 
  Investment in improving pay and employment conditions, including a commitment to adopt a living wage for all employees
• 
  Achieving agreed transformation, diversity and inclusion targets, including B-BBEE targets in South Africa (SA)
• R65 million investment in nursing training and development
• 
  80% of total measurable procurement spend on B-BBEE enterprises
• 3% improvement in senior management African, Coloured or Indian (ACI) representation
• 
  70% ACI doctors recruited
• 
  R115 million CSI spend on health and community improvement initiatives
• 
  Social targets for FY2025 have been included in the remuneration scheme

Our ESG aspiration

Making life better for our patients, employees and communities by implementing and entrenching sustainability practices in our business.

Life Healthcare’s strategy is driven by our ambition to:

• 
  Be a diversified business with a growing share of revenue and earnings from non-acuteservices – as reflected in our increased capabilities across the continuum of care spectrum.
• 
  Deliver measurable quality through a people- centred approach that focuses on our employees, clinicians and clinical excellence while using data analytics and technology to positively impact patient care.

Social and environmental targets

Life Healthcare has set environmental and social targets, giving careful consideration to stakeholder engagement and inclusion in the decision-making process. Our approach is guided by global and local ESG factors, including climate change and water security and energy availability, that significantly impact our operations. In 2023, the social ethics and transformation committee (SETCO) concluded the long-term goal of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. The target is based on the 2023 baseline data disclosed on page 37. We have also set ourselves

a long-term goal of zero waste to landfill on our general waste by 2030. The years 2024 and 2025 will allow us to complete the waste pilot that we are undertaking, implementing waste recycling across all our facilities. Our strategic objectives are reflected in our new target for 2025. The targets encompass both the social and

The 2025 targets form part of our single incentive plan (SIP) for senior management.

Diversity and equal opportunity

Employee value proposition (EVP)

We further successfully implemented the new

Life Healthcare EVP in 2023. The EVP fosters a sense of belonging and commitment among employees. It attracts and retains talent, builds a strong organisational culture and enhances the overall employee experience, ultimately contributing to the Company’s success.

Employee development

Life Healthcare is committed to implementing robust employee development programmes to nurture talent and enhance skills. We offer continuous learning opportunities through training initiatives, mentorship and career development plans. By investing in our employees’ growth, we empower them to reach their full potential while cultivating a pipeline of skilled leaders for the future.

Employee well-being

We understand that a healthy and balanced workforce is more productive, engaged and resilient. We provide comprehensive wellness programmes and mental health support for our employees. By prioritising employee well-being, we foster a culture that values and addresses the holistic needs of our team members.

Diversity and inclusion

At Life Healthcare, we recognise the importance of fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce that mirrors the communities we serve. We have implemented strategic initiatives to attract, retain and promote individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our current employment equity plan runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026. As we begin year two of the plan on

1 April 2024, we are pleased to report that our year one close-out showed outstanding results. Specifically, the junior management occupational level surpassed its 2026 targets and significant progress was made in the middle management level in 2024.

Our efforts to increase our diversity and inclusivity are complemented by robust talent management and succession planning initiatives, as well as career development programmes in partnership with top-tier institutions such as Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and the Henley Business School. These collaborations are designed to cultivate and expand our pipeline of future leaders.

We are delighted to announce that Life Healthcare’s employment equity plan was approved by the Department of Labour for the period 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2026.

Our ACI target for senior management for 2025 aligns with our approved employment equity plan.

Women in Life

Our Women in Life programme is about to enter its fifth year. The initiative continues to act as a catalyst for empowering our female leaders, emerging and practised, through the support and guidance of our programme leads.

Doctors’ diversity and inclusion

The number and speciality of doctors we recruit are driven by supply and demand factors. Demand is the need as identified by the hospitals due to growth requirements or the replacement levels of doctors leaving. The biggest driver of transformation (gender and race) in our hospitals is output from the medical schools. Doctors trained are in registrar posts on the payroll of the provincial departments and they are selected based on the recruitment policies of the government. These policies are very strictly driven by transformation targets and the specialists produced in South Africa is evidence thereof. We have been consistently recruiting ACI doctors in the order of 70% for total gains and net gains taking into consideration the doctors lost through retirement.

Looking ahead

Our people remain our greatest asset. Nurturing Life Healthcare’s diverse talent across various geographies is essential to our vision of being the preferred healthcare provider and the best place to work – a truly people- centred organisation. By cultivating an environment

for personal and professional growth, we establish

a foundation for success, sustainability and continued growth. This will be a primary focus in the year ahead.

• 
  Develop systems to measure, monitor and manage energy, water and waste to comprehensively understand our carbon footprint
• 
  Engage with national healthcare systems to support government, public health sector and regulatory environmental initiatives

• 
  Reduce southern Africa carbon emissions by 20% by 2030 based on the 2023 assured baseline data
• 
  Reduce carbon emissions in 2024 by 3% (target)
• 
  Implement 9MWh PV solar across our facilities in 2025
• 
  Drive zero general waste to landfill by 2030

• 
  Drive diversity and inclusion
• 
  Strengthen employee retention
• 
  Continued employee health, safety and wellness programmes
• 
  Continuous training and development
• 
  Ongoing CSI and enterprise development programmes

• 
  R65 million investment in nursing training and development
• 
  80% of total measurable procurement spend on B-BBEE enterprises
• 3% improvement in senior management ACI representation
• 
  70% ACI doctors recruited
• 
  R115 million CSI spend on health and community improvement initiatives

• Installed solar PV systems at 15 facilities in South Africa