The best site for Hemel's new hospital development?
This picture of a well-kept Cheere House and garden is from 2012
Before 14 years of neglect and dithering by NHS bosses ruined this Hemel landmark
Sadly this 1832 building is almost certainly on the way to final collapse
But the town centre Cheere House site is a good one for hospital development
It is within 70 metres of Marlowes and close to existing bus stops
A new building on this site would be far better than the proposed, cramped Market Square health centre
King Harry Street (right of picture) could have dedicated bus stops almost at the front door. There would be dedicated parking
The building could be MUCH bigger than the proposed Market Square health centre
But the authorities don't want you to know about these alternatives to the Market Square
Or other good options using the current site
Trust inaction makes Hemel town centre eyesore worse
A town centre landmark is deteriorating fast as local NHS bosses fail to act on its future
Historic Cheere House, Hemel's first Hospital building, was declared UNSAFE in May after a major roof collapse
But nearly four months later, West Herts NHS Trust have STILL not secured several upper floor floor windows with proper steel shutters
The Trust recently said it had 'fully secured the site to prevent unauthorised access and further deterioration.'
That's misleading - access has been blocked, but further deterioration IS happening
Cheere House has a number of rotting windows, and some have no glass
And long weeds are sprouting from a chimney
The Trust needs to come clean about the future of this prominent town centre building
The final collapse of Cheere House surely can't be far away, as damage goes apparently unchecked
If that happened, there might be just one silver lining
The site could be regenerated with a much better and more accessible new hospital building than the inadequate Market Square Hub
That is just one of several good options using the present Hospital site which the authorities don't want you to know about
Hub space squeeze could mean rush to telephone and online appointments
The authorities claim existing secondary care services would be 'relocated' from Hemel Hospital to the Market Square Hub
That claim needs to be taken with a big pinch of salt
There is unlikely to be anything like enough room to provide existing services on the one-acre multi-use Hub site
National policy on neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) like the Hub says there would be NO ROOMS dedicated to hospital level 'secondary shift' consultations and examinations
There would be just TWO ROOMS for secondary shift treatment in an NHC
That would be a major reduction in space from our Hospital, which has scores of rooms for consultation and treatment
The future for Hemel's hospital care would be increasingly remote as virtual contacts - on telephone or online - take up 50% of appointments
For face-to-face consultations with specialist hospital doctors - it will more and more be journeys to Watford or St Albans
Virtual appointments can be more convenient for patients. The aim is to have more home visits as well.
But guidelines suggest that virtual appointments will be half the length of the average face-to-face appointment at just 15 minutes
And some doctors are already worried that they are being asked by the NHS to do too many virtual appointments.
The Doctors’ Association UK GP spokesperson Dr Steve Taylor recently said: ‘If doctors are just sat behind screens all day, that is a risk, and we do need to recognise that face-to-face is still the is still the best way of actually treating and diagnosing patients. Without recognising that as the gold standard, there’s going to be problems going forward.’
The NHS policy on neighbourhood health centres is at:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/neighbourhood-health-centres/
Hub space squeeze - where will ambulances go?
Earlier this year, NHS bosses agreed to add a 'public square' to the front of the Market Square neighbourhood health centre Hub
This could improve the look of the Hub - but raises a doubt over ambulance access
The agreement on the square came after pressure to reduce the dominating visual impact of the five-storey Hub on the lovely Water Gardens
Historic England were concerned that such a building would create a 'canyon' effect which would make the Gardens look smaller
The Council agreed with that heritage watchdog to add a 'public square' to the Waterhouse Street frontage of the Hub to soften the impact on the Gardens
But that leaves a question mark over how ambulances can access the Hub
Will an ambulance bay be awkwardly combined with the new 'public square'?
Or will ambulances just have to draw up in Waterhouse Street or Marlowes?
The authorities keep trying to squeeze too much into the unsuitable, too small Market Square
There are better options on the current site
Too small to cope? Doubts over plans for urgent treatment in Hub
The Market Square hub could see a big cut in local urgent treatment services
The Hub would be a neighbourhood health centre (NHC)
NHCs are intended to deal with just 18,000 ‘minor injuries/walk-in’ cases a year, according to a national policy document
Hemel Hospital’s equivalent urgent treatment centre sees 45,000 cases each year
That could mean a gap of 27,000 cases a year if the health centre Hub goes ahead
And that is without the impact of future population growth
Cue more queuing for Hemel patients at Watford General A&E?
The Market Square Hub would be a downgrade
Meanwhile the price tag for the Watford General rebuild rises to £2bn as cost control there goes out the window
Hemel deserves something much better, and those we elect should be demanding a fairer financial settlement
The document is the Activity Calculator in the Neighbourhood Health Centre guidance published by NHS England
Hemel Hospital's smart wards are just for filming
Those in favour of destroying Hemel Hospital claim it is derelict and unusable
That is nonsense.
The West Herts Trust makes money from hiring unused parts of the Hospital - including some of the Windsor Wing - for TV and film locations
There is a company called Location Collective which promotes our wards to producers
Our Hospital buildings are NOT all in 'disrepair' as some claim
Here are just some pictures used to sell our Hospital wards to the entertainment industry:
Few face-to-face hospital facilities likely in Market Square Hub
Access to face-to-face hospital services is likely to be minimal in the Market Square Health Campus/Hub
National NHS Plans for 'neighbourhood health centres' (NHCs) like the Campus show that:
- They would have ZERO fully-equipped consulting/examination rooms set aside for secondary shift (hospital-style) care
- Hospital specialists would have to hot-desk in 18 consulting/exam rooms with GPs and community healthcare
- There would be only TWO rooms for treatment connected with secondary shift care
- There would be 3 office-style rooms for virtual (online or phone) secondary shift appointments
This would be a huge reduction in face-to-face facilities compared with Hemel Hospital
In just one existing Hemel Hospital building, Verulam from 1992, there are about 40 consulting or examination rooms
The NHS is planning for rooms for many more virtual appointments at NHCs. These can be very convenient for patients, and can save money and travel time
But the NHS assumes virtual secondary shift appointments will last just 15 minutes, against 30 minutes for face-to-face. And virtual appointments are not suitable for some conditions and some patients, especially those who struggle with digital technology
These figures are taken from the NHS Neighbourhood Health Centre Activity Calculator.
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NHS has shrinking ambitions for Hemel Hospital
Just five years ago, local NHS bosses planned a big future for Hemel's Hospital
In 2021, West Herts NHS Trust set out their ambitions for a real specialist planned care Hospital at Hemel, to serve all of West Hertfordshire
A Trust document quotes a consultant as promising 'Great hospital care' at Hemel
But now the limit of the Trust's ambition is to build the small Market Square Health Centre
In 2021, the document said the NHS aim was for Hemel Hospital to:
- be a centre of excellence for people across West Herts who have long term and/or multiple conditions.
- have a new and unique purpose as the site for specialist planned medical care for the whole area
- become the Trust's site for specialist diabetes and rheumatology
The NHS trumpeted Hemel's proud role in the area's healthcare because:
- Tens of thousands of patients every year will benefit from our plans to transform how this site works.
Just over five years later, the NHS has ditched its ambitions for our town to be a 'centre for excellence' in specialist planned medical care for the 600,000 people of West Herts
Today, it wants us to welcome its slimmed-down plans - for a purely local 'neighbourhood health centre' to serve the town of Hemel alone.
The Market Square health centre would emphasise important GP, prevention and community services, but there would be only a small amount of room for any specialist secondary services.
The plan now is certainly to 'transform how the [Hospital] site works'
By demolishing the whole of the current Hospital and using the site for housing
The Trust's document, 'Your Care, Your Views', is below. See pages 20-24:
Your Care Your Views full version
Drastic cut planned in local hospital care space for serious conditions
The planned Market Square neighbourhood health centre (NHC) Hub would see a drastic cut in clinical space for local hospital style (secondary) care for serious conditions.
NHS plans for NHCs show that they will have only 99.8 metres clinical space devoted to secondary care. Secondary care would share just 113 sq m of other clinical space with community services. There would be 105 square metres clinical space for diagnostics – again shared with other services. Minor injuries (or urgent treatment) would have an additional 154 square metres clinical space.
So there would be a total of just 470 square metres for ‘hospital’ services in the Hub – at the most.
That compares with 20,000 square metres for hospital services on the current hospital site.
NHCs like the Hub will be dominated by GPs, community and mental health services.The drastic cut in accommodation for local secondary hospital services could mean patients with serious conditions travelling much more to Watford and St Albans Hospitals for care. The local numbers of such patients will grow rapidly in future as the total of over-65s increases by 20% by the late 2030s.
The figures are contained in a ‘schedule of accommodation’ for the biggest NHC, Core++. The link is below (go to Schedule of Accommodation):
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/neighbourhood-health-centres/
Consulting rooms could be slashed in Market Square Hub
- The number of local NHS consulting and examination rooms could be drastically reduced if the closure of Hemel's Hospital goes ahead
- NHS guidelines on the very biggest 'neighbourhood health centres', Core++, like the Hub planned for the Market Square, say they should have 31 consulting/exam rooms
- This would be a big cut on the numbers now available for use.
- Just a single 1990s building in Hemel Hospital - Verulam - has about 50 exam and consulting rooms.
- The health centre Hub will also have to house GP and community health services, so the cut in space for hospital style care would be serious
- According to the guidelines, only 16 of the rooms in the biggest heath centres would be for face-to-face consultation by clinicians
- The other 15 would be simple offices for 'virtual consultation', with no couch or other professional equipment
- So the Market Square health centre would be a downgrade
- There is nothing wrong with bringing different NHS services together
- The problem with the Hemel Hub is that the site is far too small for our growing and ageing population
- The relevant page from the NHS guidance is this:
