Clarity is needed on the financial situation at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust.

Yesterday the Government was quick out of the blocks to pronounce how a clutch of hospitals were struggling to pay back loans taken out on big projects.

The ORH has seen a huge boost in the last few years thanks to private finance initiatives, which have seen great facilities such as the children’s hospital spring up. We have been left with a world-class facility, of that there is no doubt.

But is the hospital now going to be left with a debt headache?

The repayments currently total almost £50m a year, not easy to stomach, especially when you are battling massive cuts.

In today’s story the trust’s finance director spells out the bill, but also reckons the trust is better placed than others to deal with the repayments.

The Government looks poised to move in and help renegotiate some of the deals.

But one wonders whether this ‘buy now, pay later’ scheme was entirely sensible.