25 October 2002
NHS managers have given a surprisingly strong vote of confidence in the Private Finance Initiative's ability to deliver quality, modern facilities for the health service, according to a survey from Ernst & Young.
The poll of 26 finance directors and PFI project directors at trusts that have completed a private finance scheme – representing 50% of trusts in this category – found that the new facilities were being built on time and to cost.
The managers overwhelmingly supported the PFI and public-private partnerships as a means to secure much-needed new buildings. Only three respondents said their new PFI facilities had not been delivered to programme. More than 70% said their relationships with the private sector consortium were average or above average. More than 40% said they were very good or excellent.
The managers also insisted their PFI scheme was backed by clinical and non-clinical staff and the local population – 70% said staff supported the scheme, while 85% said the reaction of the public had been positive.
Alpesh Patel, director of PPP Healthcare at Ernst & Young, said the level of innovation in hospital design was rising as the private sector gained experience of working with the NHS.
But the survey revealed that the PFI could be improved. Trusts did not go out of their way to share information, despite several Whitehall initiatives to spread best practice. The procurement process was still relatively complicated and protracted and the NHS lacked managers with sufficient experience to deliver PFI projects.
Contracts could be refined to deliver better value for money for the public sector, he said. The NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS Lift) initiative was an example of how this could be achieved. NHS Lift is a joint equity partnership between the Department of Health and the private sector that aims to build and refurbish primary care facilities, particularly in inner-city areas.
Patel added: 'The survey reveals that although the PFI has been a difficult process, the public and private sectors have worked together to deliver successfully 26 new hospitals for the NHS.
'The challenge is to create more flexible and efficient partnership structures embracing equitable and robust performance regimes and relationships that meet the evolving health care agenda of the twenty-first century,' he said.
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