Commercial secrecy is getting in the way of public scrutiny of the NHS, say campaigners seeking answers on the future of local hospitals in Lewisham and Greenwich.
Members of the Reclaim the NHS campaign group on Tuesday 28 April attended a public board meeting of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust to ask about maintenance problems at both Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and University Hospital Lewisham.
At QEH the company which built and maintains Queen Elizabeth Hospital has been in dispute with the Trust over maintenance standards. According to the company’s most recently published accounts monthly performance reports have not been agreed by the Trust for the last four years and payment deductions remain under discussion.
The situation is of particular concern because the PFI scheme at the Queen Elizabeth is due to wind up in 2030. The National Audit Office has clearly outlined the risks of service disruption as PFI schemes come to an end – risks which are indicated by the Stoke City schools PFI experience for example.
At Lewisham hospital another company which built and provides maintenance and other services for Lewisham Hospital’s Riverside building has admitted in its most recent accounts that the Trust was so dissatisfied with the way services were being delivered that it had withheld payments of £1m and issued a series of warnings.
But the Finance Director told the campaigners that the Trust could not comment publicly due to commercial confidentiality and current discussions with the contractors.
Helen Mercer from Reclaim the NHS said: “We understand that the Trust may not be able to reveal financial details but our questions related to what the company accounts suggest are serious maintenance issues.”
Ms Mercer added: “Reclaim the NHS will continue to press for information and assurances regarding maintenance issues under the PFI contracts at Queen Elizabeth and Lewisham hospitals and will oppose any proposed new PFIs in the NHS.”
Note to editors:
Meridian Hospital Company PLC built and maintains Queen Elizabeth Hospital under a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that is due to end in 2030. Unresolved disputes over maintenance raise questions over whether the hospital will be returned to the Trust in a satisfactory condition.
Ravensbourne Health Services Ltd built and provides maintenance and other services for Lewisham Hospital’s Riverside building under a different PFI contract which ends in 2036. Its accounts acknowledge a risk that key agreements could be terminated and so create a “material uncertainty” that could “cast significant doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
PFI was introduced in the early 1990s as a way of paying for the building, maintenance and operation of new and replacement public buildings, the greatest number of such contracts being in the NHS.
It uses private finance, that is, loans from banks and other private lenders, rather than government borrowing. This is more expensive because lenders see governments as more reliable borrowers than the private sector and thus will charge lower interest.
The Stoke-on-Trent City schools PFI ended in 2025. Before that date £24m of repairs were identified according to a BBC report, and there were “allegations that work slowed down markedly in the final year of the contract, with repair jobs marked as closed without problems being fixed.” TSSL, the PFI company which held the contract, went into liquidation before repairs were completed. This left the local Council footing repair bills and children doing exams in freezing cold buildings.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/pfi-firm-in-school-repairs-row-plans-to-dissolve/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2y009pr50o
Questions were put to a Board meeting on 28th April 2026 by members of Reclaim the NHS and Unite the Community Greenwich, Lewisham and Bexley. These included the following:
“According to Merdian Hospital Company PLC accounts for last year: “monthly performance reports have not been agreed by the trust since June 2022 and deductions associated to these reports remain under discussion”. What exactly are the disagreements about performance indicated in this phrase about, how far they have been resolved to date, and has the Trust withheld from unitary payments as a result?”
For further information please contact:
Helen Mercer (on behalf of Reclaim the NHS)