27.06.12
Paying the price
PFI schemes have come under fire recently for the financial difficulties seen in multiple trusts struggling to balance their budgets.
But the loans were never intended to be cheap, or even cost-effective. They were necessary to provide the capital to build new hospitals, to fill a desperate service need.
Now that the price must be paid, many are concerned the price is simply too high. Yet the contracts have been signed and regretting past mistakes – if they can in fact be considered mistakes – will be of no use to addressing the problems of the present.
With so many trusts citing a lack of financial sustainability, something must change in the way their budgets are managed. Rather than arguing over which political party holds the blame for this situation, healthcare leaders must now work together to find a feasible way forwards.
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