Council admits we had no say in Hospital closure decision – full letter
- Attached is the full response by a Dacorum Council officer to an FOI request about consultation on the closure of Hemel Hospital
- It makes clear that:
- The ‘engagement’ public sessions held earlier this year were ONLY to ‘gather views on the overall vision and model of care’.
- So the decision to clear the Hospital site and build a Market Square Hub instead was taken WITHOUT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
- The size of the main NHS facility in Dacorum will be reduced from 18 acres to just 1.3 acres
- This will severely limit future development of local healthcare facilities for the 160,000 people of Dacorum
- There will be no further work on any other option.
- The current Hemel Hospital site will be available for 450 or more flats.
- The Council claims that ANY public discussion of the factors behind the closure decision would be against its ‘commercial interests’