SIR – The private finance initiative (PFI) deal which delivered the Worcestershire Royal Hospital was not the best deal for the taxpayer.

However, the headline ‘Royal to cost taxpayer 10 times original price’ (Worcester News, February 3) is misleading.

A residential mortgage costs two to three times the original price, depending on the interest rate charged.

But the payments to the Royal’s PFI contractor are not just paying a mortgage.

The contractor is maintaining the building, replacing expensive worn-out medical equipment, cleaning the building and providing catering and hospital porters for 30 years.

PAUL DENHAM
Worcester City Council