1 The objective of this study was to examine the Trust's management of the PFI contract to build and subsequently operate FM services at the Darent Valley Hospital. We used an issue analysis approach to design the scope of the examination. We set a series of four high level audit questions to answer to assess how well the deal was progressing. For each of the top level questions, we developed a subsidiary group of questions to direct our work and analysis. The top-level questions we set were:
■ Have construction issues been satisfactorily dealt with?
■ Are the operational aspects of the PFI contract going well?
■ Have financial issues arising from the PFI contract been satisfactorily dealt with?
■ Is the contract likely to enable the Trust to maintain value for money and adapt to changing health needs in the future?