Department of Health figures show yearly bills are forecast to rise by 75% to more than £2.5bn in the next 18 years, because of inflation and the way the deals are structured.
The revealation is a serious blow to PFI contractors who are coming under increasing pressure to find ways of saving Government money.
Over the next few weeks, Department of Health officials and executives at the trusts will develop detailed plans for dealing with the crisis.
Their plans are likely to include significant cost–cutting and the renegotiation of PFI contracts.
It also raise questions about forthcoming healthcare projects like the Royal Liverpool, which is currently under review.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “The truth is that some hospitals have been landed with PFI deals they simply cannot afford.
“Like the economy, Labour has brought some parts of the NHS to the brink of financial collapse.”
But a Labour Party spokesman defended the deals, saying investment was needed “to replace the crumbling and unsafe buildings left behind after years of Tory neglect”.
NHS trusts government believes are at risk because of PFI
St Helens and Knowsley;
South London Healthcare;
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire;
Wye Valley;
Barking, Havering and Redbridge;
Worcester;
Oxford Radcliffe/Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre;
Barts and the London;
University Hospitals of North Staffordshire;
Dartford and Gravesham;
North Cumbria;
Portsmouth;
Buckinghamshire;
West Middlesex;
Mid Yorkshire;
Walsall;
North Middlesex;
North Bristol;
Mid Essex;
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells;
Sandwell and West Birmingham; (not yet fully signed off)
the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (not yet fully signed off).
.gif)
