The Great Wandsworth Health RipOff

Millions of pounds have been poured into the NHS over the past few years- but where has this money gone to?

In Wandsworth, like everywhere else, it’s gone straight into the pockets of the owners and shareholders of big companies.

Here are just three local examples of how your money has been wasted on privatisation.

St Georges Hospital

Atkinson Motley Wing

The Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon was part of St George’s Hospital in Tooting. It was sold off to Laguna Quays, a private development company, to help clear debts.

On the old Atkinson Morley site a private hospital is to be built. How many of us will be able to afford to be treated there?

In its place a new Atkinson Morley wing was built at St George’s Hospital under the infamous Private Finance Initiative (PFI), by a private consortium, Blackshaw Health- care Services.

The Wing cost £50 million to build, and yet it will cost the tax payer over £400 million in repayments over 35 years.

All Blackshaw Healthcare Services have to do is clean and maintain the building during the term of the contract.

In other words we are paying back eight times what it cost to build — not a bad little earner for Blackshaw Healthcare Services.

Plus it means that the hospital is tied into a long term contract that has over 30 years to run.

St John’s Therapy Centre

The new Centre on St John’s Hill in Battersea was built by Wilmott Dixon, a construction company, at an estimated cost of £7 million. The land was owned by Wandsworth Primary Care Trust and the building replaces one that was a mere 20 years old.

Wilmott Dixon are part of a consortium known as ‘Building Better Health’, headed by a former chief executive of Tower Hamlets.

The 25 year contract will mean that total repayments by the NHS to the companies that make up ‘Building Better Health’ will amount to over £32 million.

This rip off is known as a LIFT scheme, or Local Improvement Finance Trust. It’s like the Private Finance Initiative — we tax payers pay through the nose for the NHS to pour our money into the private sector.

Instead, all new NHS building should be government financed — it’s better value and better quality.

Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton

The redevelopment of Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton is yet another Private Finance Initiative. The contractors are Catalyst Healthcare made up primarily of the building company Bovis, and Halifax/Bank of Scotland

The Hospital cost £55 million to build and has a 30 year contract.

The repayments are £10 million a year at the moment, and these repayments are linked to the Retail Price Index. So over 30 years the taxpayers will be paying over £400 million for a £55 million building)