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Yet again the BMJ has compromised its integrity by uncritically yielding
to its bias against PFI hospital developments. In reporting the election
of Richard Taylor (BMJ News, 7300, 16 June) you again quote from the
flawed "Pollock Report" on Worcestershire's PFI. As has previously been
pointed out to you this report is based on an incomplete and inaccurate
analysis.
Firstly, the cost of Worcestershire's PFI has not increased from £49m
to £108m. Prof. Pollock did not compare like with like. She compared the
original building cost of the small South Worcestershire hospital with the
total PFI cost (building, equipping, and maintaining for 30 years,
including inflation costs) of the larger pan-Worcestershire Hospital. In
practice the Worcestershire Hospital will be built and commissioned by
March 2002 within budget and on time - an unusual occurrence for major
capital projects in the NHS.
Secondly, the clinical review that triggered the changes at
Kidderminster (still unchallenged by any of the independent reviews that
have been commissioned in Kidderminster) preceded the PFI business case by
several years rather than being a consequence of the PFI development.
Thirdly, Kidderminster Hospital is not closing. It is still open and
has a very bright future as an integral part of the NHS Plan in
Worcestershire. Ask anyone who has tried to park in the hospital recently
and they will tell you that it is just as busy as ever!
Yours,
Prof. Brian McCloskey
Competing interests: I am employed by Worcestershire Health Authority
and I instigated the strategic clinical review that led to the changes at
Kidderminster Hospital.
Balance, not bias, please
Sir,
Yet again the BMJ has compromised its integrity by uncritically yielding
to its bias against PFI hospital developments. In reporting the election
of Richard Taylor (BMJ News, 7300, 16 June) you again quote from the
flawed "Pollock Report" on Worcestershire's PFI. As has previously been
pointed out to you this report is based on an incomplete and inaccurate
analysis.
Firstly, the cost of Worcestershire's PFI has not increased from £49m
to £108m. Prof. Pollock did not compare like with like. She compared the
original building cost of the small South Worcestershire hospital with the
total PFI cost (building, equipping, and maintaining for 30 years,
including inflation costs) of the larger pan-Worcestershire Hospital. In
practice the Worcestershire Hospital will be built and commissioned by
March 2002 within budget and on time - an unusual occurrence for major
capital projects in the NHS.
Secondly, the clinical review that triggered the changes at
Kidderminster (still unchallenged by any of the independent reviews that
have been commissioned in Kidderminster) preceded the PFI business case by
several years rather than being a consequence of the PFI development.
Thirdly, Kidderminster Hospital is not closing. It is still open and
has a very bright future as an integral part of the NHS Plan in
Worcestershire. Ask anyone who has tried to park in the hospital recently
and they will tell you that it is just as busy as ever!
Yours,
Prof. Brian McCloskey
Competing interests: I am employed by Worcestershire Health Authority
and I instigated the strategic clinical review that led to the changes at
Kidderminster Hospital.
Competing interests: No competing interests