vii In addition to failing to control the costs of the project, and delivery on time, those responsible for Guy's Phase III also proceeded at various stages without full funding for the project. This was reckless. The net outcome was that the public sector contribution rose from £19.5 million to £117.9 million including a £25.3 million funding gap; a total cost increase to the taxpayer of £98.4 million. While it is not possible to link this extra cost to specific delays to other patient services and projects elsewhere, it is clear that there must have been a considerable adverse impact in other parts of the country. The NHS Executive put the impact of financing the funding gap as equivalent to each NHS trust receiving a one off reduction of about £58,000, or a large capital project being delayed by one year;
viii We look to the NHS Executive to ensure that future projects should not be allowed to proceed without an agreed funding strategy, without sensitivity analyses that address the risks involved, and without rigorous re-appraisal and confirmation at every stage that sufficient funding is available;