HOSPITAL BACKERS DITCHED FOR SERIOUS SAFETY BREACH; Maintenance Contract Scrapped for Fault Which Could Have Put Patients and Staff in Danger

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Byline: Warren Manger

ONE of the firms that funded Coventry's pounds 400million super-hospital has seen its lucrative maintenance deal scrapped over a major safety breach.

Skanska is one of two companies who put up the cash to build University Hospital in Walsgrave under a private finance initiative (PFI).

As well as being repaid with interest the firm stood to profit from a multi-million pound maintenance contract covering the entire site.

However, in July the Telegraph revealed furious hospital bosses were reviewing the deal after discovering a ventilation fault in a laboratory that could have put staff in danger if a chemical or sample spill …