news story

27th February 2007

MP Concerned About Private Finance Deal For New Hospital

  Click here to see my blog entry on the subject

Northavon MP Steve Webb has expressed concerns over plans for the new Southmead 'super-hospital' to be financed by the controversial 'Private Finance Initiative'. Commenting on the announcement by North Bristol NHS Trust, Steve Webb said:

"There is a real danger that the public will not get good value for money out of this deal. A number of PFI hospital deals elsewhere in the country have produced huge profits for the contractor and a bad deal for the taxpayer. This is money that should be spent on the NHS not on private profit.

"The Government can borrow money much more cheaply than a private company, so PFI is already a high cost approach, designed simply to keep the debt off the Government's balance sheet.

"These PFI contracts typically run for decades and can be very inflexible if health needs change over the period. Private contractors often demand big premiums to change anything in a PFI hospital, whereas the NHS has much more flexibility if models of healthcare change.

"Any new investment in local hospitals is welcome and long overdue, but this is an expensive way of providing a new hospital.

"I also remain convinced that the new hospital is not in the best possible location. If two major hospitals are to serve the whole of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and one is in the centre of Bristol, it seems obvious that the other one should be in South Gloucestershire. Many people in East Bristol and South Gloucestershire will find Southmead much harder to get to than Frenchay, and it is deeply regrettable that the wrong site has been chosen."