JOHN Rostill, Chief Executive of the Acute Trust (Evening News, Thursday, February 19) laments the fact that operations are cancelled, that there is a £13.8m debt and his director of finance that there is a surge in emergency admissions accounting for 98 per cent bed occupancy at present.
What both omit to mention is that as one of the first wave of new hospitals built via Private Finance Initiative, all experienced a decrease in bed numbers as well as all categories of staff, medical, nursing and ancillary as part of the PFI deal.
All those hospitals are now facing severe deficits and the only factor they have in common is having been financed by PFI.
It seems obvious that starting off with fewer beds, hoping that this could be compensated for by technological advance, day surgery and faster throughput, means that those beds will be filled to capacity sooner.
Councillor Philip Gratton, chairman of the Health Overview and Scrutiny committee investigating cancelled operations believes, however, that PFI as a means of finance is the "best" while conceding there are now evident disadvantages.
It was not so much best as the only option permitted by the Government.
It has expensive start-up costs, higher interest repayments and, being contractual, is highly inflexible in responding to changes in health needs.
WENDY HANDS,
Upton-upon-Severn,
Worcestershire.
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