Plans for a £370 million super hospital in Sandwell have been put at risk by the credit crunch, it was claimed today.

According to a leaked health service memo, billions of pounds worth of projects under the Private Finance Initiative programme (PFI) could be delayed or put on hold.

It warns funding for projects could dry up by 2010/11 because of a lack of private finance and the crippling effect of the recession – and the Department of Health has no “plan B” to pay for the schemes.

The Conservatives claim several hospital building and improvements could be at risk – including Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust’s £591 million programme for new healthcare facilities.

The new state-of-the-art hospital proposed for Smethwick will feature 723 beds, including a 30 bed critical care unit, 46 neonatal cots, two trauma theatres and 55 paediatric beds among its facilities.

Planning permission for the development in Grove Lane was granted last October, when Trust bosses said they were confident the scheme would not be halted by the credit crunch.

Trust spokeswoman Jessamy Kinghorn said at the time that the 30-year PFI deal was still on target.

Under PFI programmes, banks or consortiums – usually involving large construction firms – lend cash for public projects for around a 30-year period and the Government pays it back in instalments.

But at a time when banks are reluctant to lend money and the construction industry has been hard hit by the economic downturn, concerns have been raised about raising capital to fund the projects.

A Department of Health spokesman said the Treasury would be providing any capital and revenue resource cover required for schemes currently under construction and the DoH would continue to work with the Treasury on the treatment of the current pipeline of PFI schemes on this issue.

It is hoped Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust’s business case for its super hospital will be approved by February and the site could open its doors by 2015.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust spokeswoman Vanya Rogers said today it was business as usual.

“The trust is planning to build a new hospital, but is not currently in a PFI contract,” she said.

“We are not planning to ‘go out to the market’ to start to find a PFI partner until April 2010 at the earliest. There is then a lengthy procurement process before we finalise the source of funding.

“We have had no advice from the Department of Health that we need to delay our plans and we continue to expect the new hospital to open in 2015.”