Oral Answers to Questions

David Evennett Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

11. What steps his Department plans to take to assist hospitals with the cost of PFI payments.

[Mr David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

12. What steps his Department plans to take to assist hospitals with the cost of PFI payments.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

A Treasury review identified savings opportunities of up to 5% on annual payments in NHS PFI schemes. The lessons learned from the PFI savings pilot will be applied to all schemes in the PFI pipeline. The previous Government left a £50 billion post-dated cheque to pay for their hospital building programme. Much of it was unaffordable and poor value for money. We are dealing with that unfortunate legacy, including the 22 NHS trusts that identified this as a constraint on their future sustainability.

[Mr Lansley]

Yes, I believe I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. Through the process of working with NHS trusts to see what is necessary for them to become foundation trusts—for example, we are working with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust—it is clear that action taken locally with support can deliver viability and sustainability for the future. I hope the same will be true for the George Eliot hospital, but as a separate trust it will not be as a direct consequence of the steps that are taken at Walsgrave.

[Mr Evennett]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s response to the original question. Poorly negotiated PFI deals for hospitals in the South London Healthcare NHS Trust are causing real financial problems and have led to the downgrading of Queen Mary’s hospital in my borough of Bexley. Does he share my concerns about this injustice, and will he ensure that my constituents get the first-class health care that they need and deserve and look again at this PFI situation?