Campaigners are raising concerns about the private finance initiative contract held for Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, which only has four more years to run.
The Reclaim the NHS group have asked questions about poor service levels and financial risks to Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust over the contracts at QEH, and also at Lewisham Hospital.
But they were told at a board meeting in April that the trust could not comment publicly due to commercial confidentiality and current discussions with the contractors.
Campaigner Helen Mercer said: “We understand that the trust may not be able to reveal financial details but our questions related to what the company accounts suggest are serious maintenance issues.”
QEH has a PFI contract with Meridian Hospital Company, which built the hospital, began operating it in 2001 and now maintains it.
The contract is due to end in 2030, but Meridian has been in a long-term dispute with the trust over maintenance standards.
Meridian’s most recent annual report, published in August last year, stated that “monthly performance reports have not been agreed by the Trust since July 2022” and associated deductions were “under discussion”.
This is a particular concern with the contract running out. The National Audit office has outlined risks of service disruption as PFI schemes come to an end.
Meridian’s majority shareholder is Innisfree – one of the largest investment funds in the UK and involved in many school and hospital PFI contracts.
The BBC reported on the problems at the end of the PFI contract for schools in Stoke-on-Trent last year. TSSL, the PFI company which held the contract, went into liquidation leaving high levels of serious maintenance issues across more than 40 schools.
The BBC found that TSSL was in a group of companies that belong to Innisfree, however, Innisfree did not intervene to support TSSL and continued paying its own dividends.
Mercer said: “PFI companies are taking millions every year in profits from these contracts. In 2024 – 25 pre-tax profits of Meridian and Ravensbourne came to £12.45m.”
“Reclaim the NHS will continue to press for information and assurances regarding maintenance issues under the PFI contracts at Queen Elizabeth and Lewisham hospitals and will oppose any proposed new PFIs in the NHS.”
The PFI contract at Lewisham Hospital
Ravensbourne Health Services Ltd built and provides maintenance for the Riverside building at Lewisham Hospital under a PFI contract that began in 2006 and is due to end 2036. Lewisham & Greenwich NHS trust is Ravensbourne’s only client.
The giant developer Carillion built the new wing. The firm was the UK’s second largest construction company, with a large network of PFI contracts. Carillion went bankrupt in 2018, making Ravensbourne liable for repairs in a programme that continued through last year.
In its most recent annual report, filed in December,, Ravensbourne reported “significant areas of reductions” in payments received from the trust to a total of over £1m due to reporting failures, contractual disputes and quality failures.
The firm reported that it breached its service failure points every month from November 2024 through to August last year. Service failure points are a measure of service quality, and can be caused by construction defects, failure to meet compliance standards (such as on fire regulations) or facilities management failures (including the helpdesk, cleaning or maintenance levels.)
The trust formally withheld over £1 million of payments in August last year, which Ravensbourne noted as “an event of default” .
Ravensbourne noted the risk that Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust might terminate the contract, and its lender might terminate its credit agreement However, it paid dividends of £1.5 million to its shareholders for the year ending 2025.
What does the NHS trust say?
A Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust spokesperson said: “The trust is working towards exiting both its PFI contracts, in 2030 for Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich and 2036 for University Hospital Lewisham’s Riverside building.
“In doing so it is following a best practice methodology set by the Government’s National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista). As part of this process, the trust is working with its PFI partners on both sites to ensure maximum value for money on both contracts and to ensure optimum service delivery for our patients, colleagues, and stakeholders.
“Any liability risk to the trust at hand back of the PFI assets is mitigated through the application of the Nista approach to PFI exit planning.”
A version of this story originally appeared on the Lewisham website Salamander News. Dorothy Stein is the founder and editor of Salamander.
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