RickInOz

He probably has the same sinking feeling that Edward Smith did on the 15th April 1912, though he will probably have a more favourable fate. So perhaps he is more like Nick Alkemade or Alan Magee who both survived freefall without parachutes.

In case the news hasn’t filtered around the UK yet, I am referring to the surprise decision by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to scrap their ambitious PFI project. Named “The Pathway Project”, this was to be a £711 million investment in Leicester’s hospitals with world-class maternity and paediatric services, and an emphasis on modernising medical care. Many parts of the Trust’s infrastructure are crumbling, literally, so this project would have brought long overdue renovation.

Instead, as with most government projects, costs spiralled out of control and the current estimate is for almost a billion pounds. Unfortunately for UHL’s chief executive this is money he simply doesn’t have and the interest payments alone on this PFI would cripple the Trust for the next three decades.

Of course this has come as a great annoyance to many people, not least the tax payer who has been left with a £23 million bill and nothing to show for it. Money was squandered from day 1 with a full-time office dedicated to the project, and private consultancy and architect fees paid in advance. The project went through more than 30 different iterations before agreement was reached, each of which required extensive and expensive proposals. All in all it has been a mammoth waste of money. That same amount could have immediately wiped the 2006 financial deficit and prevented the redundancy of hundreds of UHL staff members. I was particularly annoyed that late last year, and without any warning, the Trust scrapped the fund used to pay for our ongoing education.

I have sympathy for those left in Leicester as times ahead will be tough. However at the same time I can’t help feeling a touch of schadenfraude. Their Department of Anaethesia decided they didn’t want me, and unintentionally did me a favour as I’m far better off away from the place!