Berkhamsted would be a big loser in Hospital closure
- Plans by the NHS and Dacorum Council to shut convenient Hemel Hospital will hit Berkhamsted hard
- Until now the Hospital has helped to provide urgent and planned medical care for the WHOLE of West Herts – 600,000 including nearby Berkhamsted
- Hemel Hospital is close – about 7 miles from Berkhamsted
- St Albans Hospital and Watford General are both 14 miles away
- The Council/NHS plan would see the Hospital demolished and replaced by a smaller ‘neighbourhood health centre’ just serving the population of HEMEL ITSELF
- The ‘health centre’ would squeeze remaining acute hospital services onto just two floors on Hemel’s small Market Square
- This latest service cut for Berkhamsted comes ten years after the closure of the town’s highly valued Gossoms End community hospital
- There are concerns about lack of infrastructure to support new housing in Berkhamsted