From the BBC:
Hospital building projects could put NHS finances in serious peril in the coming years, doctors have warned. New hospitals in England are predominantly funded through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). But the British Medical Association warned repayments could cripple the NHS at a time when the budget is set to be squeezed because of the recession.
I suppose if they'd contacted a lobby group for the construction industry, that would read:
The doubling of doctors' pay could put NHS finances in serious peril, the construction industry has warned. Doctors' pay is predominantly paid in cash. But the Construction Industry Information Group warned that the large cash payments could cripple the NHS at a time when the budget is set to be squeezed because of the recession
'Red Flag? OK, Here's Our White Flag...'
1 hour ago
5 comments:
Take your point, Mark, but two 'wrongs' don't make a right. PFI is, was, and always will be, simply crony capitalism in action.
Patrick, not only that, but the government is now going to give the PFI gang low interest loans - which I covered in February - if you read the BBC article of today it includes the chilling paragraphs:
"The Treasury has set up a special unit to lend PFI projects money as private firms have been struggling to secure funding from banks because of the credit crisis.
So far no hospital project has received Treasury backing, but several are expected to come under consideration in the coming year."
Privatising the NHS is the only answer. Break it up.
My mother trained at Bart's in 1943. It had huge lucrative endowments. It was run by a bursar and three staff. It was nationalised in 1947. Where did all the endowments go?
L, don't worry, our Health Minister Designate Dick Puddlecote is going to do exactly that.
My suspicion is that in a society without all our bureaucracy all these hospitals could have been built for a fraction of the price. We have seen Rogers say that the Dome only cost £46 million to build - the remaining £630 million being paper shuffling. That crossrail (22km of tunnels & supporting infrastructue) costs £16 billion when it should be possible for £1.3 bn & the new Forth bridge costed at 13 times the inflation adjusted cost of the original.
If this is correct they could be paid for out of 1 year's interest on PFI. All that PFI has done is to enable such waste to continue.
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