TELL THE COUNCIL WE NEED BETTER HOSPITAL SERVICES IN HEMEL
There's a crucial chance for everyone who cares about healthcare in Hemel and Dacorum to make the case for BETTER HOSPITAL SERVICES.
With growing controversy over plans to close Hemel Hempstead Hospital and replace it with a Health Campus in Market Square, Dacorum Council are consulting the public over the Borough's Local Plan.
Here's the link to the consultation page:
https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/hub-page/localplan2023
THE FINAL DATE FOR RESPONSES IS 11 DECEMBER.
PLEASE TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THE CASE FOR MORE COMPREHENSIVE HOSPITAL SERVICES IN HEMEL. WE NEED ANSWERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO KEY QUESTIONS SUCH AS:
- WHAT WILL THE HEALTH CAMPUS OFFER TO PATIENTS ?
- WILL THE HEALTH CAMPUS JUST MATCH THE LIMITED SERVICES NOW OFFERED AT HEMEL HOSPITAL, OR
- WILL IT HOUSE BETTER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES AND SOCIAL CARE?
- IS IT WORTH PUTTING UP AN EXPENSIVE NEW BUILDING IF THE SERVICES ARE NO BETTER?
THE COUNCIL ARE PLANNING THOUSANDS MORE FLATS AND HOUSES FOR DACORUM. WE NEED HEALTH SERVICES TO MATCH.
ANGER OVER FUTURE OF HEMEL HEMPSTEAD HOSPITAL
Local social media is full of anger over reports that Hemel Hempstead Hospital - or what is left of it after years of w West Herts Trust neglect - is to close. Just one example from scores of complaints on the Next Door newsfeed:
Who else disagrees with our Hemel Hospital closing down for good. It's a disgusting idea. I understand that there's not much available at Hemel at the moment but it's there. Not everyone has transport and the public transport is not the greatest. It seems they want young families here but no Hospital.
It looks very much as if Hemel Hospital IS slated for closure, but the full story is a bit more complicated.
The Council hope to build a 'Health Campus' on the site of the Market Square in the Marlowes. This would be a substantial building which MIGHT house social care, primary care and other bodies as well as the services currently provided by the Hospital., with some small tweaks. It would be a sort of replacement for the Hospital.
It might help with regeneration of the town.
But ...
If that is all, it's unlikely to add much healthcare value. There's little point in moving just the limited current NHS services from Hemel Hospital over to the Market Square.
What we need to press for is BETTER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE health and hospital services for the growing and ageing population of Hemel and Dacorum. We will need those as Watford General deteriorates and undergoes massive disruption as the Trust try to build their £1.2 bn tower block hospital there.
Or even better, we should have a new hospital on a new site.
TRUST'S £61 MILLION PLAN FOR HEMEL HOSPITAL LOOKS DOOMED AS WATFORD GENERAL SOAKS UP THE CASH
A £61 million investment in hospital services promised to the people of Hemel Hempstead by the West Herts Hospitals Trust looks increasingly unlikely to happen.
The demands of building the £1.1 bn plus hospital on the difficult and expensive Watford General site are draining money away amid a growing cash crisis for the Trust.
Just 18 months ago, in May 2022, the Trust agreed and publicised a plan which would see Hemel Hempstead Hospital developed as THE centre for planned medical care in West Herts, with a wide range of services including rapid diagnostic tests.
It was supposed to be a central part of a 'three site solution' for hospital care, with Dacorum people benefitting in many ways, both clinically and economically.
But nothing concrete has happened. The promised money has dried up.
- There has been no business case for development at Hemel - a crucial omission
- Dacorum Council talk about new health facilities in the heart of Hemel, but there's no clarity about a site or funding
- Some backlog maintenance at Hemel continues to be neglected. as the buildings deteriorate further
The Trust has not delivered for Dacorum - it never does.
The Trust is likely to run a deficit of £22m this year, and it will have to use some of the money originally earmarked for building and new equipment to fund day-to-day work. That desperate policy has been savagely attacked by the Government's spending watchdog as short-sighted.
AS EVER, THE TRUST'S PRIORITY IS TO POUR MONEY INTO WATFORD. THAT DISAPPEARING £61 MILLION WOULD HAVE GIVEN HEMEL A MUCH-NEEDED BOOST AND ENSURED ACCESSIBLE CARE FOR MANY THOUSANDS.
THE TRUST HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO.
ST ALBANS HOSPITAL IMPROVEMENTS DELAYED AMIDST TRUST CASH CRISIS
Money intended for new buildings and services at St Albans Hospital is being diverted to day-to-day operations as the West Herts Trust struggles to keep financially afloat.
There was tough questioning at the Trust's Board meeting this week as officials explained that work intended for this year on a new surgical hub, endoscopy and a diagnostic centre is being delayed until next year at the earliest. Funds which are supposed to go towards buildings and equipment are being used to meet 'revenue' - running - costs.
The cash crisis shows that the Trust is very unlikely to be able both to afford the £1.1 bn plus tower block hospital on the Vicarage Road site at Watford and still run its services to a decent standard. The towering infirmary would waste huge sums of money because of the difficult site and the interference with everyday operation of the existing Hospital.
The Trust faces a likely deficit of at least £22m this financial year as senior management pleas to cut spending fail to make a difference across the organisation. Patient demands on the main clinical departments have led to stubborn deficits in the year to date. The Surgery Division's costs are £4.8m higher than planned, Medicine Division's costs are £6.8m above budget, and Emergency Division's costs are £3.8m above budget.
With winter on the way, these figures could easily get worse.
Faced with deficits like this in other big hospital trusts in Herts and West Essex, the regional supervisory body, the ICS, is demanding even tighter controls over spending.
The result could be that the local West Herts Trust loses some of its independence.
We may be fed up with the Trust's performance and bias towards Watford General - but the risk is that an even more remote and unaccountable body could end up running our health services.
HOSPITAL ACCESS COULD BE KEY POLL BATTLEGROUND
Hospital issues - especially the difficulty of getting to Watford General Hospital - could become an important issue in the polls that are coming up, including the General Election.
That's clear from the results of a major public consultation on plans for the future of South West Hertfordshire.
With the results in several marginal Herts parliamentary seats looking too close to call, candidates will need to listen to complaints about the location of the Vicarage Road hospital. Access to GPs will also be a big issue.
The consultation on the South West Herts Joint Strategic Plan covered thousands of respondents and showed that:
- One of the biggest issues for residents was access to healthcare
- The 'principal concerns' on infrastructure 'related to Watford Hospital and the fact that this was hard to access.'
- People frequently mentioned Health and Transport under the 'biggest single issue' category.
- In the summary of responses - Hospital concerns about Watford featured highly.
A startling 'Word Cloud' showed which issues loomed largest for the people surveyed - and Hospital and Transport came up top.
COULD YOU SHAKE UP THE WEST HERTS TRUST BOARD?
There's a great opportunity for a professional to begin to make waves on the West Herts Trust Board.
At present, there's not a single non-executive director on the Trust Board with a main residence in Dacorum.
We desperately need more people who understand Dacorum's health needs, to make the grossly unbalanced West Herts Board fairer.
Can you help to correct that outrageous situation?
The NHS is running a recruitment campaign for a Non-Executive Director for West Herts Trust - they must have senior experience as a registered nurse, midwife or an allied professional.
Do you have that sort of experience - or do you know someone who does?
It would be great if someone from Dacorum could get on the Board. That would be a small but important step towards ensuring the Borough's health and hospital needs are properly represented in decision-making, for the first time for years.
It would also be good if there was someone on the Board with an independent mind - who could push for alternatives to the Trust's disastrous plans for Watford General.
This is the link to the application forms. You'll have to be quick - closing date is 1 November.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/non-executive-opportunities/2023/10/10/west-hertfordshire-teaching-hospitals-nhs-trust-non-executive-director/
GOOD LUCK!
TRUST IN DENIAL AS DOUBTS GROW OVER MONEY AND DESIGN FOR WATFORD'S TOWERING INFIRMARY
The West Hertfordshire Trust was in full denial mode last week as it insisted that all was well with its 260-foot tower block hospital for Watford.
But there's growing uncertainty that the Trust will get the money to build the hospital - or approval for its preferred design.
- On finance, a Trust Board meeting on 5 October was assured that there was 'full funding' for its triple-tower, 400-foot wide design. A Trust official claimed not to know that funding could be changed under future government finance reviews. Yet the Department of Health made clear in a press release in May that funding could be altered by government. In tough times for public spending, that financial uncertainty casts doubt on the Trust's £1.1 bn plus Watford plans - among the most expensive of all the 'new' hospitals.
- On design, Watford Borough councillors will be taking a very close look at the Trust's present plans and may seek big changes. The Council's policy is to keep new buildings in the hospital area to a decent height of about six storeys. That could mean lopping over one hundred feet off the height of the present enormous design, which runs to the equivalent of 20 plus storeys. The Council's development management committee warned last month that it will also be looking at the quality of the design after doubts were raised about the amount of shadow that would be created by the three tall towers - crammed together just 15 or so metres apart.
The Trust needs to get real and accept that its plans just won't work.
TRUST FAILS DACORUM AS HEMEL INVESTMENT IS KICKED INTO VERY LONG GRASS
The future of Hemel Hempstead Hospital looks more uncertain than ever, with West Herts Trust looking at 'options' for the site.
Ambitious plans for a major Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) for the town have slipped well behind schedule, with the Trust refusing this week to explain why.
CDCs offer one-stop visits for checks, scans and tests, to achieve early diagnoses for patients, timely treatment and intervention.
In November 2022, the Trust made a big promise that Hemel would be the 'hub' of a West Herts CDC, with St Albans as a mere 'spoke'. A 'new build extension' to accommodate the Hemel CDC was planned for 2024.
But nothing has happened to bring this important facility any closer.
When asked the target date for submitting a business case for the Hemel CDC, a Trust official told this week's Board meeting that there was no date yet. So there is no chance of anything being built for many years. 'Options' for the site are being explored - which, according to many sources, is likely to include closure and replacement by a new facility in the town centre. There is no detail whatsoever on what that might mean,
Expect a glorified GP's surgery at most.
Financially, West Herts look to be abandoning Hemel Hospital and hoping for someone else to pick up the tab for services in Dacorum. Papers for this week's Board meeting say:
bids have been submitted for alternative funding for planned care services, where this is available. The future [?] for St Albans lend themselves readily to these individual service bids, whereas the focus at Hemel Hempstead is on developing care pathways ahead of significant investment to consolidate the site.
This sounds as if the Trust are optimistic about outside funding for St Albans but not for investment at Hemel, where the focus is simply on 'consolidation' of the site.
It is clearer than ever that the Trust, faced with a huge bill for Watford General's towering infirmary project, are intent on cutting back hard on investment anywhere else.
As ever, the big losers are the people of Dacorum, who are faced with long journeys for treatment in the shambles that is Watford General.
CAMPAIGN HITS PARLIAMENT WITH ATTACK ON BOTCHED NEW HOSPITAL PROGRAMME
The New Hospital Campaign has sent Parliament a scathing attack on the Government's hospital-building efforts, especially the plans for Watford General.
The Campaign has submitted to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee a detailed report setting out the many failings of the Government's New Hospital Programme. The Programme aims to build 40 new (or refurbished) hospitals in England by 2030. The Campaign's report says that:
- The reasons for the choice of sites for new hospitals, including Watford, have never been explained. There was no proper evidence to say why one hospital is to be given a new building while others are to be left as they are;
- Plans for 'Hospital 2.0', a standard system of building, using factory-made components to cut costs and construction time, have been very slow to emerge. The West Herts Trust have been allowed to waste years on their absurd 260-foot high tower-block hospital, which will never fit Hospital 2.0;
- The Trust will struggle to find any company to build their big and expensive hospital because there is not enough capacity in the construction industry. The narrow, sloping site right up against a working hospital makes Watford an unattractive proposition for contractors.
The Committee is likely to publish a very negative report on the Government's programme, and the NHC criticism will certainly play into that.
The NHC report to Parliament is here
SIR MIKE BACKS CAMPAIGN CALL FOR REVIEW OF WATFORD PLANS
Hemel Hempstead MP Sir Mike Penning has backed New Hospital Campaign calls for a review by senior NHS officials of redevelopment plans for Watford General Hospital.
A scathing report by spending watchdog the National Audit Office has recently uncovered serious problems with the NHS's efforts to deliver 40 'new' hospitals, including the proposed collection of tower blocks at Watford, by 2030.
In a letter to the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), which oversees the conduct of the West Herts Trust, Philip Aylett, NHC Co-ordinator, shows how the NAO report helps to undermine the Trust's case for Watford. Key issues include :
- Confusion over the amount of money needed to build the 260-foot Watford structure. The Trust have suggested it will take about £1.2 bn, but the NAO reveals that it could cost up to £2 bn;
- Concern that any new Watford building will be too small to serve the rapidly growing and ageing population of West Herts. The Trust is having to look again at its 'costs and scope' to make it fit within national guidelines;
- Lack of capacity in the construction industry. Few building companies will risk taking on massive projects like Watford General, where a severe and potentially contaminated slope alongside a busy existing emergency hospital makes the site very unattractive. That could mean higher costs and delay for the Trust's plans;
- Failure to consider alternatives that could offer better services for patients, and better value for money, which is a key factor for the spending watchdog.
Mr Aylett calls on the ICB to carry out 'a new review of possible sites for an emergency care and specialist hospital in West Hertfordshire.' That should include a new, independent and comprehensive review of potential clear, new accessible sites away from Vicarage Road.
Sir Mike has sent the NHC letter to Health Secretary Steve Barclay and West Herts Trust Chief Executive Matthew Coats, saying that he fully concurs with Mr Aylett's letter. Sir Mike continues:
'We have a great opportunity here to make sure that we have a hospital facility for the 21st and 22nd Century, and I urge all recipients of this letter to take the contents of it very seriously and treat it with the respect that it deserves'.
The NHC letter to the ICB is here.