Quite a few people, rightly outraged by Calderdale Royal Hospital’s rip-off PFI debt, are calling for Calderdale Council to lend the hospitals Trust the money to buy out the debt, along the lines of the Council-financed Hexham Hospital buy out of its PFI debt in 2014.
The Hexham PFI contract allowed an early exit, the CRH one doesn’t
The Council’s PFI debt buy-out was possible at Hexham Hospital because of PFI contract conditions that don’t apply at Calderdale Royal Hospital (CRH). As the Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare (the Trust that runs Hexham hospital) told the Financial Times:
Northumbria benefited from a rare clause that allowed an early exit, which many PFI agreements do not include.