THE GOVERNMENT has announced that a new £1.5 billion wave of new
hospitals will be built under the costly but profitable (to private
firms!) Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Six new hospitals will open in
Leicester, Torbay, North Staffordshire, Tameside and Glossop, Salford
and Walsall from 2010.
Health Minister Andy Burnham sounded excited: "The go-ahead is great
news for patients who will benefit from modern, bright, new buildings.
The new facilities … will be affordable well into the future. Each
scheme has been rigorously checked to make sure that it offers value for
money."
However, this year the National Audit Office (NAO) said private
investors made over £80 million out of a refinancing deal at Norfolk and
Norwich University Hospital but the hospital was only handed £34
million.
A UNISON official said: "PFI schemes are expensive, inflexible and
are adding to the current financial burdens of many hospital trusts."
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich faces insolvency because,
according to the auditors, PFI is costing an additional £9 million per
year compared with conventional procurement.
At a time of crisis in the NHS, with health staff’s jobs under threat
and with government policies causing huge deficits, this PFI plan is
just binge profiteering. Labour refuse to learn from their costly
mistakes. The unions must take up the fight against PFI as part of the
battle to defend the NHS.
