Report slams management of botched Paddington PFI

The £800m PFI hospital planned for Paddington, West London, should have been ditched on six separate occasions between 2002 and 2004, a damning report on the botched scheme has found.

The independent review, called Lessons Learned from the Paddington Health Campus Project, found that the project, which was finally scrapped this May, should have been “halted pending ministerial approval” or “terminated” in: September 2002; mid-2003; late 2003; the first quarter of 2004; the third quarter 2004; or by the end of 2004.

The 65-page report, released by the North West London Strategic Health Authority on Tuesday lunchtime, also found that there were “significant lapses in basic programme management disciplines” and a “lack of experience and relevant programme management capability” within the project team.

In a letter to local conservative MP John Randall by Sir John Bourn, head of government spending watchdog the National Audit Office, who contributed to the review, summed up the report. His letter, seen by QS News, says: “The report provides a catalogue of missed opportunities, inadequate programme management and fundamental weaknesses.”

This report is a catalogue of horrific inefficiency on the part of the most senior NHS managers

Jean Brett, Heart of Harefield Campaign

Bourn concluded that the economic cost of the project would have been far more than the £13.8m spent on fees during its five-year inception due to it being delayed by 18 months. He wrote: “Had the project eventually gone ahead in May 2005... then that delay would have added approximately £100m to the cost of construction (construction tender prices exceeding general inflation by some 13% during the period).”

Campaigners against the scheme hailed the report as a damning indictment against the running of the project. Jean Brett, who runs the Heart of Harefield Campaign, said: “This report is a catalogue of horrific inefficiency on the part of the most senior NHS managers.”

The review was carried out in July and August and was chaired by Nigel Vince, an independent Office of Government Commerce consultant. The panel interviewed 60 people involved in the scheme and industry experts, including Stanhope chairman and former CABE chairman Sir Stuart Lipton.