Room for improvement.

Abstract

First announced in 1992 by the then Conservative Government, the Private Finance Initiative is a contract whereby private companies finance, design, build and manage public buildings, such as hospitals and schools, and lease them to the public sector for a set period--typically 30 years. In healthcare, the scheme has been particularly prolific, with 34 hospitals and 119 other PFI health schemes built to date. PFI projects are also expected to account for the majority of the 15 NHS hospital developments worth over pound 4 billion, that were recently announced by Health Secretary John Reid. Arguments aside, few could deny that PFI has been instrumental in facilitating the biggest NHS hospital building programme ever seen.