Royal Infirmary brings in £16m profit for its owner

THE city's largest hospital has made a £16 million profit for the private firm that built and runs it.

Consort received the pre-tax profit from the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at Little France, which is 4m more than last year.

Under the terms of the contract, Consort - which charges rent of nearly 60m a year - is allowed to cash in on patient and staff parking and money from businesses that trade in the hospital.

The news of the healthy profits will annoy critics of the deal, which will see the health board pay around 1.26 billion by 2027, but never actually own the 900-bed facility.

The hospital is valued at 190m, and health chiefs admit that the terms of the contract are heavily weighted in Consort's favour.

The company also owns the land, meaning it has to approve all new construction there.

The figures were revealed in Consort's annual accounts.