Fate of Hemel Hospital to be sealed at holiday time?

 

  • Hemel Hospital could be in last chance saloon as NHS and Dacorum Council rush to write key report on closure plan
  • Public meetings and other publicity events will be held in July and August, minimising opportunities for people's voices to be heard
  • Key report on public opinion on the closure will be written in September, Council document reveals, feeding into a 'business case' to be approved by end of the year
  • So public meetings on 10 July (Berkhamsted) and 16 July (Hemel) could be the last chance for people to have their say on the NHS and Dacorum Council plans for replacing the Hospital with a Market Square Hub

by philip

Public won't be consulted on Hemel Hospital closure as PM's pledge is ignored

    • Despite a pledge to the House of Commons by the Prime Minister,  there will be no public consultation over the planned closure of Hemel Hospital
    • Sir Keir Starmer promised David Taylor MP on 4 June that there would be such consultation in respect of plans for a Health Campus or Hub to replace the Hospital
    • But the NHS and Dacorum Borough Council will not be delivering on the PM's pledge of a formal legal process of consultation, according to a paper sent to the Council's Health and Wellbeing Committee. The PM's promised consultation is not mentioned once in the document
    • The paper promises only limited 'engagement' meetings.
    • It is understood that, at this stage, key issues such as funding and location will not be open for discussion.
    • These restricted meetings do not meet the standards of openness and accountability legally required by public consultation. 
    • House of Commons rules require that a Member who gives inaccurate information to the House must correct the record
    • Who is going to make that call to No 10 Downing Street?  

by philip

Why must there be public consultation on the closure of Hemel Hospital?

  • There must be proper formal consultation on the proposed closure of Hemel Hempstead Hospital and its replacement by a Health Campus or Hub on the Market Square in the town's Marlowes

  • Consultation offers the public a range of legal safeguards -people's voices must be heard and their views taken into account thoroughly and fairly

  • The final closure of the Hospital would be a substantial change - a trigger for formal consultation

  • There would be no beds in the proposed Hub - so it would definitely no longer be a hospital - again a substantial change

  • At a recent meeting, a representative of the NHS said that 'most services' would move from the current Hospital to the Hub - there would be a loss of services

  • The West Herts NHS Trust has been reducing services at Hemel Hospital for years - this stealthy and dishonest process could carry on if we do not have a proper consultation

  • The NHS 'engagement' sessions planned for next month focus completely on the plans for the Hub, with no mention of developing the current site. This is blatantly prejudiced and misleading.

  • And the Prime Minister has promised 'public consultation'. If the NHS ignores this formal pledge and closes Hemel Hospital without consultation, that would be a betrayal of trust.

by philip

NO ACTION ON PM'S PROMISE TO CONSULT ON HEMEL HOSPITAL CLOSURE - YET

      • The NHS is holding two meetings about the planned closure of Hemel Hempstead Hospital and its likely partial replacement by a Health Campus or Hub in the town's Market Square  
      • The meetings are in Berkhamsted on 10 July and Hemel Hempstead on 16 July
      • The invitation makes no mention of the option of retaining a hospital in the town, which must be considered to follow Treasury rules
      • And it makes no mention of the public consultation promised by the Prime Minister to Hemel MP David Taylor in the House of Commons on 4 June
      • The full invitation from the NHS Integrated Care Board is below:

      • Hemel Health Campus Workshops

        Thursday 10 July 7 – 9pm at Berkhamsted Town Hall

        Wednesday 16 July, 2-4pm at South Hill Centre, Hemel Hempstead

        We’re exploring the opportunity of building a new health campus in Hemel Hempstead and would like to hear from patients, carers, local residents and community groups.

        We would like to invite you to a workshop to share more information about the health campus, and to listen to your views and thoughts on what matters most to you.

        The health campus would bring together a range of local hospital, community, primary care and voluntary sector services. It would provide urgent and routine treatment and diagnostics as well as outpatient appointments, and care and support services to help patients who are living with frailty or long-term health conditions. 

        West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board and Dacorum Borough Council are engaging with local people to look at what a health campus could offer.  Your insight and experience of using local services are invaluable to this. These initial workshops are intended to raise awareness of the campus and seek a wide range of views on what people want to see from the proposed campus.

        Please email heather.aylward@nhs.net if you would like to attend one of the workshops.   Let us know which one and we will then send more information when we confirm attendance.

by philip

Trust slashes spending on patient services - but fails to meet targets for admin cuts

  • West Herts Hospitals Trust is planning to cut £22 million from its spending this year - with most coming from patient services.
  • But the Trust claims it can't meet a target to reduce admin costs
  • The Trust's will cut about £20 from patient services this year, with temporary staffing being reduced by £8m  and other cuts for A&E, elective activity and medicines.
  • But the Trust says it can only make cuts of £1.6m in administrative 'corporate services' 
  • The NHS has asked the Trust to cut nearly £10m from corporate services, but the Trust says it can only make £1.6m in savings
  • Corporate services covers everything from controlling finance and purchasing equipment to managing buildings or technology infrastructure, from tracking performance and communications to keeping records for a ward.
  • But even if it makes all these cuts, the Trust will still be in financial trouble. The reductions will leave it only about half-way to an overall £42 million annual savings target set for it by NHS England. 
  • The figures are contained in papers prepared for a 27 June meeting of the body that oversees the NHS in Herts and West Essex - the Integrated Care Board.
  • The link to the papers is here - see pages about the South and West Herts Health and Care Partnership Integrated Delivery Plan:
  • https://www.hertsandwestessex.ics.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWE-ICB-Public-Board_27.06.25_Final-Pack.pdf

 

by philip

15 years of disruption for Watford General?

  • Watford General could be a building site until 2039 - or later - under West Herts Trust plans
  • Rebuild of Hospital will start between 2032 and 2034 and will take between four and five years
  • Plans to insert Mount Vernon Cancer Centre between Hospital and Watford FC could mean disruption for patients and staff running into the 2040s
  • Dates set out in new Health Issues document from Dacorum Health Action Group

The Health Issues document is here: DHAG Update June 2025

 

by philip

David Taylor MP on health for Dacorum - Action Group responds

    • David Taylor, MP for Hemel Hempstead, has written to a number of constituents who have asked him about health and hospital issues
    • Mr Taylor calls for a community hospital for Hemel Hempstead, which would be a good result for the town and the Borough of Dacorum. That is something that DHAG would firmly support.
    • However the letter also makes a number of statements which are open to challenge, including:
    • Mr Taylor says the Hemel Health Campus for the Market Square 'is the best outcome for the residents of Hemel Hempstead. It is the only offer available'. This is premature. The case for closing Hemel Hempstead Hospital and replacing it with a Health Campus must be officially tested before any decision is made. There must be engagement with the public before the necessary investment is approved.  Those are the Treasury rules.
    • Mr Taylor claims 'Hemel Hempstead Hospital is not fit for 21st century healthcare. The buildings are in disrepair'. This is exaggerated. The Verulam Building is relatively new - about 30 years old - and contains purpose-built hospital accommodation, which is badly underused. There may well be a case for the Market Square campus but it is very important for the public to hear the arguments. It is vital that our hospital services are not limited by the size of the plot on which they are provided.
    • Mr Taylor says 'Delaying or starting over with this project (the plan to rebuild Watford General) could push healthcare improvements for Hemel Hempstead back by at least 10 years'. Where is the evidence for this statement? The rebuild of Watford General is completely separate from the Hemel project. The start of any Watford rebuild is delayed until 2032 at least and its costs are out of control. The New Hospital Campaign would like to see a proper exploration of alternatives to the Watford project which would almost certainly be cheaper and may be finished quicker.
    • Please click on the line below to see Mr Taylor's letter:
    • D Taylor letter 23 April

 

 

by philip

West Herts Trust refuse to say how much they've wasted on Watford General project

West Herts Trust have refused to make public how much has been wasted on developing the Watford General rebuild scheme - now stalled for 7 to 9 years

Health Service Journal has published estimates for money wasted on other schemes in the 40 New Hospitals programme

But West Herts have apparently blocked HSJ's freedom of info request on how much Wasteful Watford has cost up to now

by philip

Survey suggests little current public support for Hemel Health Campus

  • An opinion survey suggests there is little public support for a Hemel Health Campus - at least at the moment
  • Of the 1025 people who took part in a survey of public opinion from 8 to 31 March, an overwhelming majority (91%) would like to see development of the current Hemel Hempstead Hospital site for a community hospital.
  • Just 9% of respondents said they preferred the Hemel Health Campus proposed for the Market Square in Hemel
  • The survey, via the Survey Monkey portal, does not provide a scientific cross-section of the population, and respondents are self-selected, but the result gives some indication of public opinion
  • Although there have been many general statements from the NHS and Dacorum Borough Council about what the Health Campus might offer, they have lacked detail. There has been no commitment from the NHS to provide any specific service in Dacorum in the future
  • The result of this survey is concerning. The NHS and Dacorum Borough Council strongly favour the Campus idea, but have not provided the information that  residents need to make an informed decision about the hospital services they require, and where they should be sited
  • The NHS should urgently draw up firm proposals for the future of hospital care in Dacorum - and the public must be consulted about them without further delay.
  • The survey results are here: Summary of March 2025 survey

by philip

Clear new site for a new West Herts hospital could save NHS up to £500m

  • New 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 full media release on the Scott report is here: Media release costs comparison

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

by philip