Private healthcare group Bupa wrote off £33.5 million from the value of its home health business, helping send its annual pre-tax profits down 12% to £514 million. Bupa said the NHS was clamping down on the amount it would pay for providing chemotherapy, intravenous feeding and rehabilitation at home for elderly and bed-ridden patients. However, the company, which owns the Cromwell Hospital in Kensington, said it had spent £1.3 billion on deals to increase its presence in markets such as Australia, Hong Kong, Poland and the US.
