Barts on Critical List - Again
Hackney Gazette
For many of us the announcement felt like Groundhog Day when proposals to withhold approval for part of Bart’s £1.1bn redevelopment scheme were announced. Britain’s most famous hospital once again hangs in the balance.
It is only eight years ago that Bart’s was saved. We were told then that there was too much medical provision in London: it was over-resourced with hospitals and health care, and that that was why Bart’s had to close. That’s certainly not the case anymore. The government’s review has confirmed this. There are not fewer ill people nor are there fewer people suffering from heart disease and cancer in Hackney and surrounding boroughs than there were four years ago when these plans were agreed. Decoupling Bart’s part of the PFI from the general redevelopment of London will cost the taxpayer money. A lot of money. In fact, the contractors Skanska could walk away with £100 million in compensation if the project is abandoned. What sense does that make? What exactly has become so much better about health services in the East End that the government can justify throwing away £100 million of taxpayers' money on compensation to a developer at the last minute?
It is a well known fact that poor people have poorer health and less access to healthcare services. In East London we have real pockets of poverty and deserve access to world class facilities. Scattering cardiac and cancer services across London and beyond would break-up the world-renowned medical and nursing teams that provide essential care to some of the most deprived populations in Britain. Eight years ago we were promised that Bart’s would be saved and that we would not be deprived of the great cardiac facilities on that site. I think it is ludicrous for the Government to go back on that promise now.
The only thing that is different from eight years ago is something the Government was warned of all along: the inflated cost of "buy now, pay later" Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. Even if Bart's is saved yet again, the threat to Londoners' health provision does not go away. Mixing business and healthcare is a dangerous policy. The new "payments by results" market mechanisms mean that hospitals will not have the guaranteed income to service their debts.
It seems to me that the Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewitt, is moving goal posts. The redevelopment of Bart’s was indeed affordable. However, it is increasingly looking unaffordable because the government is wasting expensive time reconsidering the hospital’s future. It is ludicrous to consider backing out now when contractors are already on site, increasing costs by £600,000 a day! The longer the decision is drawn out the more expensive the redevelopment will be and the less viable the PFI scheme will look.
The review of the Bart’s and The London PFI at this late stage makes no financial sense. And I will fight any proposal not to go ahead with the redevelopment of Bart’s.
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