PFI

[AtW]

It can be sorted with a PFI tax. But that will never happen.

Yes good solution just like with public servant pensions, unfortunately not going to happen also.

[Paddy]

It's a bit hard to find way out of 30-40 year long contract signed by previous Govt - you can bet those PFI companies had good lawyers to write it.

It can be sorted with a PFI tax. But that will never happen.

[AtW]

Translation - we're devoting all our effort into finding new ways to blame the old government, rather than trying to find a way out of the problem.

It's a bit hard to find way out of 30-40 year long contract signed by previous Govt - you can bet those PFI companies had good lawyers to write it.

[BoredBloke]

Though you forget it was the brain child of the last Tory government in the 90s.

Labour are great at spending other people's money (or hoarding it for themselves if you are the Bliars).

It doesn't really matter who came up with the idea. Zyclon B was invented by the Gemans in the 20's and used by the yanks for fumigate things. It's still most closely associated with the Nazis. While Labour may not have invented PFI, they used it to cripple our future finances. Add to the hospitals all the schools that were built during their time in office and pretty much any other public sector building project.

[minestrone]

Every time I hear a former Labour minister on Question Time saying "we built all these schools, hospitals and other vital buildings" it makes my blood boil.

Building something is easy - any idiot can do that. It's paying for it that's the hard part - which Labour never did.

And the stupid buggers built loads of them in 1 go rather than spreading the building out so when they all fall apart at the same time be will have to go for another massive building splurge.

Doughballs.

[d000hg]

Unified NHS IT system IS a great idea and SHOULD save a incredible amount of time & money. It just doesn't work and by the sounds of it never will.

I know the NHS is giant but does that really mean it has to be so very complicated? When we compare with what Google are doing for example.

[SueEllen]

Translation - we're devoting all our effort into finding new ways to blame the old government, rather than trying to find a way out of the problem.

Though you forget it was the brain child of the last Tory government in the 90s.

Labour are great at spending other people's money (or hoarding it for themselves if you are the Bliars).

[d000hg]

Although in fairness, there is no easy way out of the problem. We're locked into 20/30/40 year contracts.

If they can introduce a special "bank tax" at the drop of a hat and retrospectively change taxation law, you'd think they can use some clause to escape this.

[centurian]

Mr Lansley told The Daily Telegraph: “Over the last year, we’ve been working to expose the mess Labour left us with, and the truth is that some hospitals have been landed with PFI deals they simply cannot afford.

Translation - we're devoting all our effort into finding new ways to blame the old government, rather than trying to find a way out of the problem.

Although in fairness, there is no easy way out of the problem. We're locked into 20/30/40 year contracts.

Every time I hear a former Labour minister on Question Time saying "we built all these schools, hospitals and other vital buildings" it makes my blood boil.

Building something is easy - any idiot can do that. It's paying for it that's the hard part - which Labour never did.

[Paddy]

nah, it was MFI and they used to sell crappy flat pack furniture

No thats the the police in the USA

[TraceRacing]

nah, it was MFI and they used to sell crappy flat pack furniture

[DimPrawn]

PFI

Didn't they used to sell sofas?

[AtW]

NHS hospitals crippled by PFI scheme

Andrew Lansley says he has been contacted by 22 health service trusts which claim their “clinical and financial stability” is being undermined by the costs of the contracts, which the Labour government used extensively to fund public sector projects.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that the trusts in jeopardy include Barts and the London, Oxford Radcliffe, North Bristol, St Helens and Knowsley, and Portsmouth.

Between them the trusts run more than 60 hospitals which care for 12 million patients.

There is already evidence that waiting lists for non-urgent operations have begun to rise as hospitals delay treatment to save money. Adding to this are growing fears over the impact of the financial crisis on care this winter.

Under the PFI deals, a private contractor builds a hospital or school. It owns the building for up to 35 years, and during this period the public sector must pay interest and repay the cost of construction, as well as paying the contractor to maintain the building.

However, the total cost of the deals is often far more than the value of the assets. As a result, Mr Lansley says, the 22 trusts “cannot afford” to pay for their schemes, which in total are worth more than £5.4 billion, because the required payments have risen sharply in the wake of the recession.

Mr Lansley told The Daily Telegraph: “Over the last year, we’ve been working to expose the mess Labour left us with, and the truth is that some hospitals have been landed with PFI deals they simply cannot afford.

“Like the economy, Labour has brought some parts of the NHS to the brink of financial collapse. Tough solutions may be needed for these problems, but we’ll help the NHS overcome them. We will not make the sick pay for Labour’s debt crisis.”

Over the next few weeks, Department of Health officials and executives at the 22 trusts will develop detailed plans for dealing with the crisis. Their proposals are expected to include significant cost-cutting and the renegotiation of PFI contracts.

Source: NHS hospitals crippled by PFI scheme - Telegraph