BACKING private finance in the NHS should be a red line for any health secretary, campaigners charged today.

NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last week that the government should “consider” using private capital to fix the NHS’s crumbling infrastructure.

Today, Health Secretary Wes Streeting faced questions on the same programme about a potential return to failed private-finance initiative (PFI) schemes, in which private firms built hospitals and high-interest repayments were made over the long term. 

Mr Streeting said that he does not pretend there are not “enormous challenges” because of NHS capital shortfall, and is “very sympathetic to the argument that we should try and leverage in private finance.”

But he admitted that many of the PFI deals “did lumber the NHS with an enormous cost that it continues to bear.”

He added: “I think there is a role for private investment, but the terms of those arrangements, that’s where you’ve got to tread really carefully.”

Johnbosco Nwogbo, of campaign group We Own It, said: “Support for more private finance in our NHS should disqualify you from being health secretary. 

“Many NHS trusts are still spending more on PFI debts than on medicines for patients. 

“Several paid out more to PFI last year than their annual deficit as a trust, diverting funds that could’ve been spent fixing the crisis in A&E.”

Research from We Own It shows that the current £13.8bn repairs backlog bill across the NHS is dwarfed by the £44bn still owed to PFI companies. 

Mr Nwogbo added: “There appears to be a concerted effort by the government and the NHS top brass to rewrite history on how disastrous PFI has been.”

Mr Streeting reaffirmed that Labour is “definitely committed” to using the independent sector to bring down NHS waiting lists.

On Sunday, Labour reported that waiting lists had dropped by 160,000 since it took office.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that his government had delivered 2.2 million extra NHS appointments, a target achieved seven months early. 

The figures compared July to November last year with the same period in 2023, when BMA doctors staged several walkouts.

Keep Our NHS Public campaign group co-chairman Dr John Puntis said: “If representing a sustained trend, the small increases in number of appointments and minor reduction in massive waiting lists are welcome.

“However, much more rapid progress is needed if Labour is to achieve its stated objectives before the next election.

“Meanwhile, plans to divert resources to the private sector, seek private investment for infrastructure and embrace the failed market reforms of 25 years ago are a huge concern. 

“Enthusiastically repeating mistakes of the past will prove costly and can only lead to a decline in services over a longer period of time.”