Health chiefs back business case for HRI

executive Owen Williams acknowledged public concerns about the planned changes to HRI but said it was crucial to find the right balance between planned care and unplanned care so as to minimise risk as far as possible.

And he revealed that any new hospital would have to be funded through a Private Funding Initiative despite widespread condemnation of PFIs, which have been blamed for dragging the UK into crippling debt totalling hundreds of billions of pounds.

“At this moment in time there is no public money available to borrow,” he said.

“If we had lots of other choices perhaps we would be looking to exercise some of those choices but given the options available we are left with using a PFI. It’s not something that we are advocating lightly.”

Professor Peter Roberts said the FBC represented “the best overall value that we can achieve in terms of delivering a quality of service that is absolutely vital.”

He warned against further delays, which could push up capital costs by 10% every year.

Hospital governor George Richardson asked what might happen if Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt turned down the proposals. “The one thing that the public keeps saying is that we don’t need a new hospital. If we don’t get the new build where will we be in ten years’ time?”

Mr Williams said there was a need to move forward now to prevent an unacceptable decision by government.