PRESS RELEASE 4th April 2008 - Southern Cross Celebrates the Commitment of its Staff at the Company’s Care Awards

On the 20 March 2008 a Gala Ball was held at the Hilton Hotel in Blackpool to celebrate the National Final of the Southern Cross Care Awards.

These awards were open to all staff from the 730 Southern Cross, Ashbourne Senior Living and Active Care Partnerships care centres throughout the country. The objective of them was quiet simple. To recognise excellence in our teams and to celebrate the outstanding contribution made by individuals working in our Care Centres.

Nominations were received in each of our regions for the following awards: Professional Practice, Manager of the Year, Marketing Initiative, Excellence in Activities, Excellence in Hospitality, Customer Care and Carers Commitment and Achievement. A panel of expert judges selected winners for each of these awards in each region. From these winners a regional champion was selected. The regional winners went onto represent the region at the Grand Prix at the National Awards in Blackpool.

Southern Cross was delighted with the quality and calibre of all of the Finalists which made judging of the Grand Prix particularly difficult. Terry Lilico, the Manager from Coniscliffe Care Centre and the North East England Division Champion was viewed by the judges as having made an outstanding contribution to both his division and company. Pictured with Bill Colvin, Chief Executive and Nicholas Parsons, the celebrity guest for the evening Terry’s reaction was as follows, "We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We couldn’t have had a better night and it was fantastic to celebrate with all of my colleagues."

Also pictured was the runner-up, Divisional Champion for Central and South West England, Mimie Carey, the Housekeeper from Laurel Court Care Centre in Bristol. Mimie was equally delighted with her award "I had a lovely, lovely time. I will remember each and every second of it for ever."

John Murphy, Group Managing Director said of the Awards "Too often we tend to focus on the negative aspects of our industry. These awards were about celebrating excellence in what our people do day-in-day-out. It was heart warming to see the level of commitment, enthusiasm and dedication that our staff put into the services they provide. On behalf of the board of Southern Cross I would like to congratulate Terry and Mimie and all of the Regional Champions for all of their hard work."

Contact: Pauline Boyne, Southern Cross Healthcare, 0141 270 2028

About Southern Cross

Southern Cross is, in terms of number of beds, the largest UK provider of care home services for the elderly and a major provider of specialist services for people with physical and/or learning disabilities. The Company's care homes for the elderly operate under two distinct brands: Southern Cross Healthcare and Ashbourne Senior Living. Both brands provide a range of social and personal care services and nursing care services for elderly people with physical frailties and differing forms of dementia. The Company's specialist services operate under the Active Care Partnerships brand and provide long-term care services for people with physical and/or learning disabilities and for younger people with complex forms of challenging behaviour.

Southern Cross is focused on providing high quality care in well invested facilities, seeking to be the home of choice in each local community in which it operates. The Company provides care services for most of the local authorities in the UK which, together with the NHS, represent over circa 70% of the Company's revenues. Its care home portfolio is largely purpose-built with a high percentage of single occupancy rooms and rooms with ensuite bathrooms. Occupancy levels in its core elderly segment are consistently in excess of 90%.