philip

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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by philip

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

by philip

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/

by philip

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:

by philip

NHS bosses' neglect laid bare as disused Hospital building crumbles

• A large part of the roof of a historic but disused Hemel Hospital building has collapsed
• Cheere House is very close to a car park and overlooks busy Hillfield Road and King Harry Street
• The building was declared unsafe back in May, but the Trust has yet to answer DHAG queries about public safety and the future of the building
• It seems unlikely that the 1832 building, Hemel's first purpose-built Hospital, can survive much longer
• But that could be seen as an opportunity for a good solution
• If Cheere House IS condemned and demolished, that would potentially leave the site free for a new hospital facility much larger than the Market Square 'Hub'
• NHS bosses' neglect has speeded up in recent years,
• In 2017 (picture with former MP Mike Penning) Cheere House was in decent condition, though disused
• Today (other picture) it is in a pitiful, and potentially dangerous, state, with a large section to the left open to the elements

2017                                                                                             2026

by philip

Part of roof collapses on disused Hospital building

• Historic Cheere House - the oldest building in Hemel Hospital - has suffered a partial roof collapse
• The building, which is disused, overlooks car parks and town centre streets, 
• Building inspectors say it is 'not an imminent danger'
• But Hertfordshire Building Control warn it 'could deteriorate more'.
• In May, notices appeared on Cheere House warning people to Keep Out
• A structural engineer has been called in to assess the situation of the 1830s structure
• Dacorum Health Action Group has asked West Herts Trust, which is responsible for the buildings in Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hospitals, what plans they have for Cheere House.

by philip

NHS could save up to £500m by building A&E hospital on a NEW SITE

• Expert report says the NHS could save up to half a billion pounds with a new A&E and specialist hospital on a clear new site instead of rebuilding Watford General
• Hospital on suitable clear site could also be built up to a year earlier than struggling on with Wasteful Watford redevelopment
• Highly experienced building expert Robert Scott says West Herts Trust plan for building at Watford’s cramped and sloping Vicarage Road site would be costly and disruptive, with several risks to patient care
• Over many years, Trust has failed to come up with a Watford scheme that is both affordable and practical.
• 7+ year delay to Watford plan is a chance to explore cheaper, quicker – and better – options
• Watford’s woes would include – noisy and polluting interference with working of the existing hospital, need for expensive groundworks, complex safety measures, reduced working hours, inadequate access for construction traffic which would hamper hospital traffic
• Mr Scott, who is a member of the New Hospital Campaign, calculates that building on a clear site could cost around £1.45bn – against a likely cost of around £1.936bn for the rebuild of Watford General
• That’s a Watford Money Gap of about £500m
• Report calls for ‘A full professional independent review and alternative site search’ for alternative options for a new West Herts hospital and ‘a reliable re-evaluation of the current proposals’ 

The Scott report is here: FinalHospital Site Viability Study 5_3_25

by philip

DHAG seek clarity over Hub urgent care hours

• There's confusion and concern over possible cuts to urgent care hours in the proposed Market Square 'health centre' Hub.
• A Facebook post by David Taylor MP seemed to suggest urgent treatment  in the centre would only be available six days a week
• This would be a major reduction in services
• Hemel Hospital urgent treatment centre (UTC) is currently open every day of the year between 8 am and 10 pm
• Mr Taylor's post said the 'Health Campus' would be 'A community hub open at least 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, bringing core health services like GPs, urgent care, and diagnostics together under one roof.'
• This wording sparked online uncertainty and concern that the closure of the Hospital would mean no Sunday UTC service
• In a bid to clear up the confusion, DHAG Chair Philip Aylett has asked West Herts Trust: Does the Strategic Outline Case for the Hemel Health Campus include an assumption that the urgent treatment centre on the Campus would be open on seven days a week? Does the SOC include scenarios which would see the UTC open on just six days a week? 

by philip

Big response to DHAG message at Armed Forces Day

• Scores of people spoke of their opposition to the closure of Hemel Hospital at Saturday's Armed Forces Day celebration
• For the first time, Dacorum Health Action Group had a stall at the popular Gadebridge Park event
• Volunteers Philip, Chris, Jean and Viv gave out many copies of DHAG's hard-hitting Save Our Hospital flyers. 
• The pic shows the stall ready for action before the event started
• People told of how important the Hospital is to them and their families
• There was little support for the 'neighbourhood health centre' proposed for the Market Square
• Seventy people registered interest in getting regular updates on the DHAG campaign to Save Our Hospital
• Several councillors told us of their opposition to the health centre plans
• But DHAG members also had very good discussions with Council Leader Sally Symington and former Mayor Cathy McArevey, who support the health centre
• There was disagreement, but they listened to our views with respect and attention.
• We hope they will change their minds about the health centre, given the strong arguments against it
• But at the very least it's good to have elected representatives who are prepared to listen.
• 

by philip