IT WAS AUGUST AND THE SILLY SEASON, so it was perhaps not clear at first whether the news from the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, was a spoof or not. Collapsing ceilings? Flooding sewerage? No air conditioning and an indoor temperature of 33 degrees centigrade (thanks to a transparent roof)? A beds crisis in August? Unfortunately, far from spoof, this was the real life experience of a shining flagship development of the Private Finance Initiative— one of the country's first new PFI hospitals (Mathiason, 2000). Thirty-seven others, worth over £3.6bn, have been approved for development so far.
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References
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Brown, G (1997) ‘Foreword’Partnerships for Prosperity: the Private Finance Initiative, London: Treasury Taskforce
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Cohen, N (2000) ‘IPPR: What real influence does the voice of the centre left and Labour's favourite think-tank wield?’ New Statesman, Auaust 21st p14-15
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IPPR (2000) IPPR Commission on Public-Private Partnerships: Call for Evidence, London: Institute for Public Policy Research
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Mathiason, N. (2000) ‘Beds crisis—in August?’, Observer Business, 27th August p2
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Treasury Taskforce (1997) Partnerships for Prosperity: the Private Finance Initiative, London: Treasury Taskforce
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Unison (2000) Challenging the Private Finance Initiative, London: Unison. See also unison.org.uk
