The PFI has come under attack as a way of building hospitals in a report from the NHS Confederation.

Following a survey of 13 completed schemes, the Confederation, which represents health authorities and trusts, says that the Private Finance Initiative “has had its day”.

“If the PFI is to be retained it has to be updated,” said Sylvia Wyatt, project manager of the confederation’s Future Healthcare Network. Alternative approaches include LIFT, where the NHS enters into joint ventures with the private sector to update facilities.

The Confederation’s survey highlighted the fact that while trusts had benefited from PFI, they had found the negotiating process costly, bureaucratic and time-consuming. It rarely resulted in good design and the resulting contracts were too rigid. Recent schemes have also had fewer private sector bidders.

The NHS Confederation’s assertions have been backed up by a report produced by a team led by Allyson Pollock, professor of health policy at University College London. The report argues that claims by the Treasury which state that PFI outperforms traditional methods cannot be substantiated. The Treasury claims that 80% of PFI schemes came in on time and to budget as opposed to a much poorer past record for non-PFI schemes. However, Pollock says that the Treasury had refused repeated requests to release underlying data so the study cannot be evaluated.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of public sector union Unison, argued that the report further discredited the PFI and is “evidence that we need a full independent inquiry into PFI”.

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor