NHS - Paying for the PFI
WORKERS, OCT 2010 ISSUE
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The NHS will pay back to the private finance initiative £65 billion for hospitals built under the PFI and related schemes. This is over six times the cost of the new hospitals built. The payments will be spread over the next 30 years.
103 schemes cost £11.3 billion initially, now with consultant fees, contract variation, inflation and market forces they will have to repay £65.1 billion. A tenth of some hospitals’ spending is effectively going straight to the banks, which can only deepen future financial crises, causing cuts and possible closures. The hospitals should default on the debt: health isn’t for sale!