Land deal controversy scuppers 800m west London PFI hospital

The proposed £800m PFI hospital planned for Paddington, west London, looks likely to be scrapped after a key partner refused to approve the latest business case for the hospital.

The board of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust, one of the two trusts behind the project, formally rejected a key part of the latest business case for the project last week. The addendum to the business case concerned a controversial land deal needed for the new plans.

Reports this week claimed this would lead to the project being officially scrapped later this month. The Evening Standard claimed that the parties behind the plans – which also include St Mary’s NHS Trust and Imperial College London – would now redevelop their services separately.

The Brompton & Harefield Trust blamed its decision to pull out of backing the scheme on an affordability gap, uncertainty over the land deal on the site, and worries about the effect of the new scheme on delivery of health services across north-west London.

The move has delighted campaigners against the project. Local resident Jean Brett, who has consistently opposed the PFI, said: “It is extremely rare for this to happen as it’s usually a rubber-stamping exercise. It boils down to neither the land nor money for Paddington being available and its clinical efficiency now being questioned.”

This is the latest twist in the tale of this troubled scheme, which was given public backing before the May election by prime minister Tony Blair.

In March, landowner Paddington Developments Corporation walked away from a land deal from which the hospital would have acquired a 1.3 ha piece of land next to the scheme. The site was seen as crucial to providing the hospital with enough capacity, but the £148m cost of the land deal led to the Department of Health being unwilling to approve the plans.