Pump-priming the PFI: Why are privately financed hospital schemes being subsidized?

The authors explain how the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) has raised the costs of infrastructure development in the health service. They demonstrat e that the assumption that higher capital costs would be offset by savings resulting from the involvement of the private sector is wrong-rather, NHS t rusts and health authorities have been obliged to make savings on other bud gets in order to make the high costs of investment affordable. There is no reason to believe that these problems will disappear as the volume of PFI i nvestment increases.