NHFM was instrumental in supporting the transfer of Hexham General Hospital over to the ownership of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust after the organisation terminated the private finance initiative (PFI) contract which enabled it to be built more than a decade ago.
The move will save around £3million a year and is absolutely the right thing to do for the local communities as well as the healthcare trust.
The deal was thanks to a loan from Northumberland County Council, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the country, and was as a result of the strong partnership working which existed between the trust and the local authority.
The buy-out process was completed with minimum disruption and through careful planning and expertise, there was no impact on service delivery with all of the existing workforce being TUPE’d across. At Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management we have the expertise to guide other organisations through the PFI buy out process based on our knowledge and experience with Hexham General Hospital.
As we become the rightful owner of Hexham hospital, this is an important milestone for our trust and our patients. We are immensely proud that we are the first trust in the country to buy back a hospital in this way and deliver significant savings for taxpayers which will enable us to continue to invest in patient care.
With ever increasing financial pressures on the NHS, we must continually look at innovative ways to deliver best value for money and bring down our borrowing costs. It is down to our stable financial position which we’ve built up due to prudent financial management over many years, coupled with our excellent working relationship with the council, which has enabled us to bring this deal to fruition.
