XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
 Psychiatry
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
  UK
   NHS
  USA
  World
  India
  South Africa
  New Zealand
  Australia
  Canada Healthcare
  China Healthcare
  Africa
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
 
 India
Search

Last Updated: Nov 18, 2006 - 12:32:53 PM

NHS Channel
subscribe to NHS newsletter

Medical News : Healthcare : UK : NHS

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Is the private finance initiative dead in NHS?
Oct 7, 2005 - 9:16:00 PM, Reviewed by: Dr.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee recently questioned the “large profits made by the private contractor which built the Norfolk and Norwich hospital”, says the author. And the recent shelving of a flagship PFI venture in West London may herald the end for the PFI healthcare experiment in the UK, he suggests.

 
Government enthusiasm for the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in the health service - private sector investment in hospital building projects - may be dropping because of its high cost, says an editorial in this week’s BMJ.

Hospital trust boards initially welcomed the financing system, which they were told was the major way they could fund new facilities, paying investors back in annual instalments.

But concerns were soon raised that new PFI funded projects were providing less patient capacity than those they were designed to replace. PFI contracts also seemed very expensive, though details on costs were “shrouded in commercial secrecy”, says the author.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee recently questioned the “large profits made by the private contractor which built the Norfolk and Norwich hospital”, says the author. And the recent shelving of a flagship PFI venture in West London may herald the end for the PFI healthcare experiment in the UK, he suggests.

The fundamental problem is that PFI does not suit the rapidly changing climate of delivering healthcare in the UK, says the author, as private investors need long-term commitment from hospital managers – commitments increasingly unwise for trust boards to make.

The final blow could be the Government’s own economic operating constraint that debt should not exceed 40% of gross domestic product. Hospital repayments to PFI investors have always been treated as “off balance sheet” finance - not registered in public accounts. But this may soon change if the Government’s Office for National Statistics reclassifies PFI investment, since much of it may be categorized as debt – and at levels possibly breaching the Government’s own economic condition, says the author.

This would remove a key justification for PFI in healthcare, since a financing system which incurred heavy debts on the Government balance sheet overturns the argument for having PFI in the NHS at all, he concludes.
 

- British Medical Journal 8 October 2005 (Vol 331, No 7520)
 

Read full text of the source article at on the journal's web site

 
Subscribe to NHS Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 



Related NHS News

Mental health units should not be exempt from smoking ban
NHS may be buying surgical equipment unethically
Is it time to give NHS more independence?
Experts Comment on New Blood Pressure Guidelines
New Guideance will Result in Better Control of Hypertension - BPA
NHS care for older people is still patchy
NHS could save �78m by improving staff productivity
Have targets improved performance in the English NHS?
Denying Joint Replacements Based On Prejudice
NHS needs to do more to provide need based health care


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us