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Does a hospital have to be owned and managed by the same sector that provides its services? In the early 1990s, the Private Finance Initiative was the Treasury's brainwave to provide the public sector with better value for money. Designed to fund public infrastructure such as hospitals, roads and accommodation through private money from consortiums, these contentious schemes indicated a radical cultural shift towards outsourcing. The 13 video tracks in this album introduce the complexities involved in project financing from both public and private perspectives and feature case studies on Calderdale hospital in Halifax and Altcourse Prison in Fazakerly. The audio track examines the PFI and asks whether it provides a good deal for the public or if it's another profit-making venture for the private sector. This material forms part of The Open University course B821 Financial strategy.
Track 4: The public sector
Choosing the PFI route means Calderdale NHS Trust can finally have a new hospital.
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Tracks in this podcast:
| Track | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Strategy | An introduction to this album. Play now Financial Strategy |
| 2 | PFI - an introduction | Culture shift: using private finance to fund public projects. Play now PFI - an introduction |
| 3 | Why PFI? | Comparing the Private Finance Initiative with financing through the public sector. Play now Why PFI? |
| 4 | The public sector | Choosing the PFI route means Calderdale NHS Trust can finally have a new hospital. Play now The public sector |
| 5 | Proving a PFI will work | Calderdale's decision-making process for choosing PFI Play now Proving a PFI will work |
| 6 | Risk and money | A look at how the monetary risks inherent in a PFI project are calculated and managed. Play now Risk and money |
| 7 | Contract negotiation | Dawn Stephenson and Haydn Cook discuss their experiences of securing a PFI deal for Calderdale hospital. Play now Contract negotiation |
| 8 | Calderdale hospital | From securing the funding to completing the construction of PFI-funded Calderdale Hospital. Play now Calderdale hospital |
| 9 | Calderdale: preparing the bid | Members of the Calderdale NHS trust and the private consortium discuss the affordability of the new hospital. Play now Calderdale: preparing the bid |
| 10 | Calderdale: merging trusts | How the merging of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS trusts affected the PFI scheme for Calderdale hospital. Play now Calderdale: merging trusts |
| 11 | The cost of PFI | A look at the controversy in refinancing PFI projects. Play now The cost of PFI |
| 12 | Refinancing: altcourse prison | The gains to be made from re-organising financing. Play now Refinancing: altcourse prison |
| 13 | The voluntary code | The introduction of the voluntary code, brought in by the National Audit Office . Play now The voluntary code |
| 14 | Do PFI's work? | What is important for a PFI to succeed? Play now Do PFI's work? |
| 15 | Are PFI's a good deal? | Malcolm Prowle explores PFI schemes for projects in the UK and abroad. Play now Are PFI's a good deal? |
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Audio reviews
One of the things that I appreciated most about the course was the way that you broke down complex private financial concepts into easy-to-understand language. Your use of real-world examples and case studies helped me to see how these concepts apply in practice, and I feel much more confident in my understanding of private finance imitative as a result.Another aspect of the course that stood out to me was the quality of the instructional materials. The videos were well-produced and visually engaging, and the accompanying written materials were thorough and easy to follow.