Ultrasis Plc Regulatory News (ULT)

Ultrasis plc

Ultrasis' "Beating the Blues" breaks new ground

with major UK health provider

Ultrasis plc, the provider of interactive healthcare and related services, is pleased to announce a five-year exclusive contract with General Healthcare Group (GHG), the UK's largest independent provider of private healthcare, to deliver "Beating the Blues" (BTB) within the UK private healthcare market.

The service, to be offered primarily by GHG's principal subsidiary company, BMI Healthcare, will use BTB, the computer delivered treatment program that uses established techniques in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to treat depression and anxiety.

BMI will deliver immediate access to BTB over the internet with additional telephone support, or alongside clinician delivered services. It will initially be made available:

·;  Direct to patients and consumers through the BMI Healthcare website.

·;  By direct referral from a range of BMI clinical staff.

·;  As part of the wider BMI provision of healthcare services.

Nigel Brabbins, Ultrasis Chief Executive, said:

"This strategic partnership will significantly enhance our reach within the private sector and opens new therapeutic territory to BTB. BMI is the leading independent healthcare provider in the UK and we are delighted that they have chosen to work with Ultrasis to make BTB a core part of their emotional and mental health support for patients. We expect to see BMI patients receiving the service during June 2010."

He added: "Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is now recognised as a treatment option for co-morbidity depression experienced in association with many primary illnesses. We look forward to demonstrating the increased benefits of using BTB to help people deal with any underlying or primary emotional problems.

"The two recent NICE Guidelines regarding treatment of depression have broadened the application of BTB to co-morbidity and this partnership with BMI will provide us with the platform to significantly scale up delivery."

Mark Beadle, Managing Director of Mental Healthcare Services at GHG, said:

"We are delighted to be working with Ultrasis to improve patient access to psychological services within BMI hospitals. Evidence shows that for many patients their outcomes will be improved by the treatment of anxiety or depression alongside the treatment of their underlying physical condition. BTB has already demonstrated excellent clinical outcomes and represents an extremely cost effective treatment option for our patients.

"We also look forward to working more widely with Ultrasis to improve the availability and accessibility of Beating the Blues to a wider market."

Ends

Notes to editors

1. Beating the Blues is an evidence based computer delivered treatment program that uses established techniques in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to treat depression and anxiety cost effectively. Computer-aided Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ("CCBT") is now recommended by NICE as a treatment option for people with mild and moderate depression who have a chronic physical illness as well as for those who are in good physical health. Since the NICE Health Technology of CCBT published in 2006 Beating the Blues has been the leading programme used within the NHS.

2. CCBT was recently highlighted by NICE as capable of delivering £250m of the £600m potential savings presented in its recent Cost Saving Guidance to the NHS.

3. The recent NICE Guidelines on treating depression in adults with chronic physical health problems highlights that depression is two to three times more common in this population than in people with good physical health. Treating the depression can help alleviate the pain and distress associated with the physical illness and has been proven to have a positive effect on clinical outcomes.

3 General Healthcare Group is the UK's largest independent provider of private healthcare. Its major subsidiary is BMI Healthcare, which has more than 70 hospitals and clinics across the country. More than 7,000 consultants choose to practice at BMI hospitals, which collectively handle over 250,000 inpatient and one million outpatient visits each year. BMI focuses on clinical excellence, quality of service and efficiency, and has a deserved reputation in the independent health care sector for consistent achievement of these values. For more information, please visit www.bmihealthcare.co.uk.

Other key facts about BMI:

·; 99% patient satisfaction rating of good or better*

·; 115 specialities and services

·; 89% of UK adults live less than an hour from a BMI hospital

·; 9,200 employees

·; 2,900 beds

·; 1.5 million website visits per year**

* Source: Patient satisfaction survey, Howard Warwick & Associates, Jan-Sept 2009 ** 1,478,000 unique visits to BMI Healthcare's website in 2009

For more information:

Nigel Brabbins Ultrasis CEO E-Mail: ultrasis@ultrasis.com Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7566 3900 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7253 5313

Geoff Nash FinnCap Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7600 1658

John Webb Marshall Securities Joint Broker Telephone: +44 (0) 207 490 3788

Karen White/Sarah Rice

JBP Public Relations (UK media enquiries)

0117 907 3400

E-Mail: Karen.white@jbp.co.uk; sarah.rice@jbp.co.uk

GHG/BMI Press Contact:

Linda Apeles

0207 009 4544

Linda.Apeles@ghg.co.uk