Told you years ago that PFI was wrong
It's a shame that M.P's have just seen
the light
this is from the BBC news 27/10/06
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hospitals worth only £8bn, the Conservatives have revealed.
The figures emerged in a response to a Parliamentary Question tabled
by Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
Under PFI, a private company builds a hospital and then collects "rent" from
the NHS for around 30 years.
The government said the comparison was misleading, as the total cost
includes cleaning and buildings maintenance.
It says the flagship PFI policy means the private sector bears the risk
and cost of building new hospitals.
But unions said PFI schemes were "expensive, inflexible and adding to
financial burdens".
There are 58 NHS PFI schemes already open with another 30 under construction.
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Six years ago, Labour
promised the biggest ever hospital building programme in the history of the NHS.
"Now, they say they do not want care to be provided in hospitals after all.
"It is perverse that, with hospitals around the country now suffering cutbacks
and closures, over 80 NHS organisations are locked into long-term contracts
for the building of large hospitals that we have no idea whether the NHS will
actually need."
He added: "Every hospital I talk to wants the freedom to structure its borrowing
projects as they wish. For all too many, PFI has turned into a straitjacket."
Hinchingbrooke can vouch for the PFI burden with the state
Of the Art Treatment Centre, which is a wonderful facility but
the promised work that would have made it a viable proposition
has not materialised, maybe it's time to use it as a specialist
treatment centre for a clinical need that is not catered for in the
East of England rather than wasting it's potential
