Skip to main content
Unhealthy Profits: PFI in the NHS, its real costs and consequences by John Lister
A timely exposé of the profit-driven insanity of the private finance initiative which is devastating the NHS

JOHN LISTER’S well-written and scrupulously researched book is a crucial weapon in the defence of the NHS.

[[{"fid":"12030","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]It advances a rigorous explanation of the economic theory behind the private finance initiative (PFI), its putative benefits and the reality of its implementation in the NHS over the last quarter-century, drawing on the specific experience of the Pinderfields and Pontefract hospitals in Yorkshire built as part of a £311 million deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Championed by Tory chancellor Norman Lamont, the concept of PFI originally surfaced in the early 1990s but it wasn’t until the New Labour victory of 1997 that PFI went from being one of many funding models to being the only game in town.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with French President Emmanu
Features / 7 March 2025
7 March 2025
CARLOS MARTINEZ condemns Europe’s failure to develop genuine autonomy from US hegemony, as leaders like Starmer and Macron cling to a declining imperial order rather than building good relations with the emerging powers
Taklimakan desert workers
Features / 28 December 2024
28 December 2024
Chinese socialist planning and action over decades have created the world’s greatest reforestation programme, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ, and now its lessons in fighting desertification and climate change are taking root worldwide
17 - PRC founding celebrations 2019
Features / 7 September 2024
7 September 2024
Despite relentless hostility, the People’s Republic of China has lifted millions out of poverty, and become a global leader in innovation and climate action, while pursuing peaceful development in a multipolar world, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the return cap
Features / 9 July 2024
9 July 2024
Brussels is following the US’s lead in slapping punitive duties on China’s electric vehicles, sabotaging Europe’s climate goals and economic interests to appease Biden’s anti-Beijing crusade, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
Similar stories
Coins and Scottish bank notes
Britain / 7 April 2025
7 April 2025
Health Secretary Wes Streeting with Prime Minister Keir Star
Britain / 17 February 2025
17 February 2025
A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward
Britain / 6 December 2024
6 December 2024