NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor has said the government needs to go "further and faster" than it has set out in the recent Ten-Year Health Plan to allow local leaders to develop infrastructure in the healthcare sector.
He was responding to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the government's use of private finance for infrastructure.
The committee said that "historic lack of detailed information on forthcoming plans has exacerbated skills shortages and put the government’s ambitions for infrastructure investment at risk."
It warned that badly managed Private Finance Initiative contracts would lead to poor quality assets being handed back to the public sector.
Concurring with PAC's views, Taylor said, "The committee is right that having a long pipeline of work for private investors is vital if we are going to get value for money for the taxpayer."
He said that empowering systems and local leaders will address the issue of capital underinvestment in the NHS and kickstart economic growth.
“Capital funding is going to be essential if the NHS is going to make the improvements and reforms necessary to put it on a sustainable long-term footing," he added.
NHS Confederation had earlier welcomed the government’s commitment to explore public private partnerships to inject more capital funding into the health service.
