By Richard Johnstone | 22 September 2011
The government has said that 60 hospitals are facing financial difficulties over meeting the costs of the private finance used to build them.
Health
Secretary Andrew Lansley has confirmed that 22 NHS trusts are facing costs running into billions of
pounds from the Private
Finance Initiative, which
could put the future of hospitals at risk. More than 100 PFI hospitals are currently operating. They are built by private firms and the NHS trusts then pay an annual fee to use them.
Lansley said that the figures showed that some hospitals have been landed with PFI deals they cannot afford over the typical contract length of 25 years. The Department of Health said it would outline plans to resolve the problem later this year.
Commenting on the figures, the NHS Confederation said that it must be remembered that ‘PFI projects have provided the NHS with some much needed new buildings and there are few realistic alternatives for funding significant hospital developments’.
Deputy chief executive David Stout said that the deals were signed when NHS funding was growing under the past government. He added: ‘The issue now is that the NHS is undergoing fundamental change, and income for hospitals to cover the costs of the PFI will become less stable, primarily because the NHS faces an unprecedented financial challenge.’
The confederation warned earlier this month that some hospital services would have to close if the NHS to meet its efficiency targets. Stout argued that ‘with resources locked into PFI contracts, we will find it harder to make these vital changes’.
He added: ‘There is a real danger that we will be paying for hospitals that are not being fully used.’
