Nothing less than full reimbursement, in keeping with proper industry rates for the job, will do, coupled with a cast iron guarantee that nothing similar will happen during the remaining life of the project.

Hopefully, this has already happened, but unfortunately the damage has been done.

While there is no suggestion that Skanska, the construction firm overseeing the hospital work, has been party to what has been happening - the problems relate to subcontractors - the events have cast a most unwelcome cloud over a prestigious undertaking.

The affair represents a major embarrassment for Skanska and the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust which is investing so much in providing Mansfield and Ashfield with a facility that should be the envy of the country.

And if exploitation on this scale can occur on a major PFI undertaking, it is bound to prompt concerns about the large number of other Eastern European migrants currently working locally. Can anyone be sure that all of them are being treated lawfully?

Regrettably, the answer is no. And that simply isn't good enough.