Hospital bosses say PFI firm ‘putting lives at risk’

THE controversial private management of health services was under fire last night after the company that runs one of Scotland’s largest hospitals was threatened with legal action for blunders that “put patients’ lives at risk”.

Health chiefs at NHS Lothian said they could “no longer tolerate the repeated, serious and potentially life-threatening” problems at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI), which was built and is managed by the private firm Consort.

In one incident, surgeons had to finish an operation by torchlight after maintenance workers cut power to the theatre.

Consort won the £60 million annual Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract to build and operate the hospital in Little France in 1996. The contract – at the time the biggest PFI deal in Europe – is due to run until 2028.

In a statement, Alan Boyter, executive director of NHS Lothian, said: “We are consulting our lawyers to discuss what options we have in relation to the contract.”

Jackie Baillie, MSP, Scottish Labour’s Shadow cabinet secretary for health, called for an independent inquiry into the latest incident which saw power cut to two operating theatres last month.

As well as the recent power cuts to theatres, Consort has been involved in a number of other incidents including failing to conduct criminal background checks on hundreds of staff.

Mr Boyter said: “We have reached the point where we can no longer tolerate the repeated, serious and potentially life-threatening nature of these incidents at ERI by our PFI provider Consort.

“Patient safety is always our absolute priority and we will not allow that to continually be put in danger by a third party.

“We are angry and frustrated with the performance of our PFI provider Consort.

“However, patient safety is our number one priority and we have in place detailed contingency measures to ensure [this] is maintained at all times in every situation.”

The power cut incident last month saw two operating theatres plunged into darkness after maintenance workers cut the power supply without checking surgery had been completed.

The hospital’s back-up system had failed to work forcing theatre staff to use emergency procedures to keep monitoring equipment running as torches were brought in to provide light to let the surgeon complete the operation.

A second patient was being prepared for surgery at the time but the operation was delayed because of lack of power.

Stephen Gordon, director of Consort, said the power had been disrupted for around ten minutes.

“Consort has taken this incident very seriously and have undertaken a thorough investigation into this matter in conjunction with NHS Lothian to review the current operating procedures in place for works of this nature,” he said.

PFI funding, which was favoured by Labour governments, has come in for much criticism.

Instead of government paying upfront for a new building, it agreed to pay private firms an annual fee to take on the entire construction and management of hospitals and schools.

However, critics said future generations would have to pay for these “quick fixes” with concerns over firms making profits on public services, leases running for more than a century and high annual running costs

The contract for the new ERI lasts 25 years but the lease of on the land is for 130 years.

The incident was criticised by health unions, who hit out at PFI schemes in general.

Tom Waterson, Lothian branch chairman for Unison, said: “It highlights that the PFI consortia put finance first as opposed to putting patients first.

“Again, we have seen the risk transfer goes to the patients and not to the private company. It again highlights concerns that we have had since the contract was signed that this is a company that cannot be trusted with the health of the people of Edinburgh and the Lothians.”

Ms Baillie added: “It is a disgrace that in 21st century Scotland this has been allowed to happen – it is utterly unacceptable.

“What we have witnessed is a catalogue of errors that have culminated with this incident, which could have had a potentially devastating impact on patient safety.

“NHS Lothian must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that the level of service provided by Consort improves dramatically. Patient safety must always be paramount.

“We need an independent inquiry to find out how things could go so catastrophically wrong and to ensure that this does not happen ever again.

“The fact that NHS Lothian has now involved its lawyers underlines the seriousness of what has happened.”

Margaret Watt, chairwoman of Scotland Patients’ Association, welcomed the news that Consort’s future at the ERI was under scrutiny.

“This is absolutely excellent news and what we would expect. However the patient involved in this latest incident could have died.

“This company has been involved in a number of incidents. There should not be the mentality that you are allowed two strikes and you’re out, it should be one strike and you’re out.”

However, Murdo Fraser, Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said that while the incidents at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary were “wholly unacceptable” it was inappropriate to criticise the entire PFI system.

“Clearly this must have been a very distressing situation for the patients and staff involved,” he said. “It is clearly wholly unacceptable for this to happen in an NHS hospital in Scotland.

“This matter does need to be urgently looked at and lessons learned to ensure there is no risk of a repeat in the future.

“But it would be wrong to use this one incident to try to damn all PFI projects in the NHS given that many have an excellent record of delivery and also that publicly-funded institutions are not without problems as we have seen in the all too recent past such as at the Vale of Leven hospital.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The PFI contract is between the Board and Consort. We have been clear that we expect NHS Lothian to closely monitor Consort’s performance, issue fines where appropriate and make sure any problems are swiftly addressed.

“NHS Lothian has assured us patient safety is the priority and they have contingency plans in place for all potential problems.”