Peter Dixon, the chairman of University College London (UCL) hospitals, in his oral evidence to the Committee on the 10th of November, pointed out that a mix of publicly-financed hospitals and (more expensive) PFI hospitals creates difficulties. The existence of PFI hospitals with long contracts (35 years in the case of UCL hospitals) which cannot be closed without incurring considerable cost means that there will be a bias towards closing the publicly-financed hospitals even though the latter might be more suitable for other reasons (eg location).
As the BMA has put it, in paragraph 1.8 of their evidence to this Committee:
"On a regional level the inflexibility of PFI contracts means that Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) are more likely to make economies at hospitals without PFI commitments. For example, it has recently been reported that South London and Kent planners have decided that of four hospitals battling debt, closures should occur at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup because the other three (Lewisham, Woolwich and Bromley) all have PFI repayment obligations".