England suffers another P3 hospital crisis (but Scotland crows)

The governing Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) is crowing that it has avoided the hospital P3 privatization crisis of its southern neighbor.

The crisis of yet another P3 (public private partnership, or PFI) hospital in England demonstrates "the failings of PFI and the privatization agenda souther of the border". The SNP adds:

"Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust is losing £100,000 a day, with services set to be substantially cut as a result. Earlier this year it was discovered that the PFI hospital in Wakefield which is part of this trust was turning away ambulances because of a lack of capacity. These developments follow the recent announcement that South London Healthcare was in danger of being dissolved, despite having received £150 million in bailouts over the last three years."

Sandra White, a SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament is quoted by the SNP: "This latest private health crisis for the NHS in England shows just how badly PFI has damaged the health service south of the border. Trusts are buckling under staggering levels of debts and their problems are only being exacerbated by the privatization agenda being pursued there."

Late last month the SNP had noted "The well-publicised troubles facing South London Healthcare, which is struggling under the weight of its PFI obligations, offers a stark warning of the dangers of PFI and the increasingly privatized health system south of the border....The SNP has consistently criticized the sustainability of PFI projects, warning of the dangers of situations like the one currently unfolding."

The SNP favors Scottish independence and suggests the English P3 privatization crisis shows why Scotland needs its independence from Britain. It wants to hold a referendum on independence in 2014.

In contrast with Scotland, the governments of Canada and Ontario have followed England into the P3 quagmire.

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