24th September 2025

PFI mark 2 here we come!
All the indications are that Streeting’s Neighbourhood Clinics will be built using a form of PFI. Of previous PFI, the government’s own National Audit Office: (NAO) said “future charges that continue until the 2040s amount to £199 billion – money that could finance the entire NHS for 20 months.”
In its 2018 report the NAO said “The Treasury Committee ….estimated the cost of a privately financed hospital to be 70% higher than the PSC” (Public Sector Comparator, whereby the government directly raises the capital cost), see page 15.

Need for more GP training posts?
Applications for GP specialty training have nearly doubled in just the last two years, with four out of every five doctors who applied to become GPs unable to do so. But are there enough training posts?

ICB can’t afford severance pay
Under instruction from Streeting ICBs are required to cut staff costs by 50%, but they can’t afford redundancy payments.