Official figures show that taxpayers are committed to pay £229 billion under for new hospitals, schools and other projects with a capital value of just £56 billion. Much of the additional spending goes on expensive maintenance contracts.
Last night Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, condemned the charges. He said: "[Hospitals are] being forced to spend extortionate sums on private contractors rather than spending that money on helping sick patients get better.
“Unless we take action, these post-dated cheques left to us by Labour could seriously impact on patients.
"That is why this Government is working with trusts with PFI related financial problems. We will not make the sick pay for Labour's debt crisis.”
Figures released under Freedom of Information show that North Staffordshire NHS trust paid £242 to put a padlock while North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS trust paid £466 to replace a light fitting and £75 for an air freshener. A trust in Salisbury paid £15,000 to “install a laundry door following feasibility study”.
Other charges include £8,450 to install an “additional dishwasher” for a NHS trust in Hull, £962 to “supply and fix notice-board” at a trust in Leeds and £26,614 for the “replacement of shower room doors” at the Sussex Partnership Trust.
The Coventry and Warwickshire University Hospitals NHS Trust was charged £4,459 to “supply and install a new CCTV camera” while a hospital trust in Ipswich Hospital was billed £120 to call out an engineer to reset an alarm.
The same trust in Ipswich also was charged four separate payments of £120 on false call-outs, including one to investigate a static shock received from a door which turned out not to be the contractor’s responsibility.
The findings have angered Coalition ministers who are furious by what they see as the generosity of the Private Finance deals for new hospitals which were agreed by the Labour Government.
These costly PFI deals are causing significant problems for the NHS – earlier this year it emerged that 22 hospitals trusts had appealed to the Department of Health for financial support because high bills threatened their clinical and financial health.
A series of Freedom of Information requests has disclosed how hospitals and NHS Trusts that are locked into long term PFI deals are being forced to pay “hyper-inflated” charges for basic services.
Jesse Norman MP who has campaigned on PFI criticised Labour for creating “a Maginot Line of hugely expensive new hospitals”. He said: “These latest revelations are hugely depressing.
"But the real scandal of the PFI in the NHS is how the Labour government pushed health authorities to create a Maginot Line of hugely expensive new hospitals - just at the time when all the experts agree we need health care to be far more flexible and far closer to the home.”
No one from the PPP Forum, which represents construction companies, financial businesses and law firms that make money from PFI contracts, was available for comment.
Last month, George Osborne, the Chancellor, published plans to overhaul PFI, by creating a new and more efficient funding scheme that strikes “a better balance between risk and reward to the private sector”.
How hospitals are being charged hundreds of pounds by PFI firms for basic DIY jobs
Reads :
Diamond Engagement Rings - Makeityourring Diamond Engagement Rings - Diamond Rings - Engagement Rings