3.3 Both the Trust and the Department are currently confident that the hospital building will most probably be needed for the foreseeable future and that, if there should be serious problems with THC Dartford's performance, this will be resolved without terminating the PFI contract, for example by requiring THC Dartford to replace its sub contractors.
3.4 Nevertheless, it is not possible to anticipate now the factors that may affect decisions about the delivery of healthcare in the Dartford & Gravesham area in 20 or 30 years time. Views about the usefulness of part or all of the current hospital may change over time. Under conventional procurement the financial consequences for an NHS Trust of contract termination are likely to be less onerous than under the PFI. Conventionally, a NHS Trust's financial liabilities on termination to external parties are likely to only be the cost of terminating short term facilities management although a Trust would still bear capital charges from the Department in respect of the cost of the building. In this deal, as with other PFI projects, there would be more parties for the Trust to negotiate with to effect a termination and the cost of terminating the contract would be a major consideration for the Trust in deciding whether to do so. The termination cost to the Trust would include the capital cost of building the hospital (to the extent that the related borrowings are still outstanding) and may also include part of the additional finance obtained by THC Dartford to effect the refinancing together with any costs associated with breaking those financing arrangements.