PRIVATE Finance Initiatives to fund acute hospitals appear to be skating on thin ice. Although the Department of Health denies a freeze, there is a distinct chill in the air.
Tim Pearson, a director of Innisfree — a financial backer of PFI projects — tells Public Servant (Jan 13): “There is a blockage across the market for every single project at any step. . . and it is fair to say that it is causing deep disquiet.” The result could be that PFI investors look elsewhere, he says. The standstill is being caused by a review of projects by the Private Finance Unit, which is looking at new ways of judging the suitability of PFI proposals and focusing money on primary care and community projects, according to Contract Journal (Jan 11).
The outcome is likely to be more local improvement finance trust programmes (Lift) — a type of public-private finance scheme to fund a range of projects over time. Sylvia Wyatt, the policy director for the Future Healthcare Network, tells Public Private Finance (Jan): “It is too early to write off the (PFI) initiative and declare the PFI hospital building project programme over.” But, she adds, Lift does offer greater flexibility.
The debate is likely to continue simmering, with the Conservative Party poised to announce its opposition to using acute sector PFI, Simon Stevens, president of UnitedHealth Europe, writes in Health Service Journal (Jan 12).