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

Enough parking at a Hemel Health Campus?

  • Many doubt there would be enough parking spaces for the proposed Hemel Health Campus in Market Square, but could the sceptics be wrong?
  • There are 400+ parking spaces at the current Hemel Hospital, and they're fairly well-used - not too many spare spaces
  • So could a replacement Health Campus on Market Square have enough spaces for everyone?
  • Maybe they could fit - but how could it be done?
  • I understand from a Council source you COULD put another deck on the Water Gardens car park
  • And the cramped Hillfield Road NCP car park across from the Market Square often has spaces
  • BUT it would cost serious money to provide extra spaces. NCP would play hardball over reduced prices - and adding a whole extra deck to Water Gardens would be pricey and disruptive
  • And money is in very short supply - just ask Rachel Reeves

by philip

Hemel Health Campus - key documents

  • With the future of hospital services in Dacorum under discussion and a survey of public opinion being conducted now, here are two key documents about the proposed Hemel Health Campus in Market Square - a project initiation document and a feasibility study

Hemel Health Campus PID v1.5a Committee Submitted

Hemel Health Campus Feasibility v0.14

by philip

Watford General - England's worst acute hospital for privacy and dignity

  • Watford General is rated England's worst acute hospital for privacy, dignity and wellbeing, according to a closely-watched NHS national survey carried out in 2024
  • Watford also came bottom on this measure in the previous year's PLACE survey - and the situation has got worse
  • Watford gets just 65%  for privacy, dignity and wellbeing in  2024 as other local hospitals do much better - Lister in Stevenage gets 90% rating, Luton and Dunstable 78%
  • PLACE assessments are an annual appraisal of the non-clinical aspects of NHS and independent/private healthcare settings, undertaken by teams made up of staff and members of the public (known as patient assessors). The team must include a minimum of 2 patient assessors, making up at least 50 per cent of the group.
  • Food on the wards at Watford General got a score of 80%, with St Albans City Hospital getting just 76%. Luton and Dunstable ward food rated about the same as Watford, with 81%, with Lister again achieving a high score of 93%.
  • The link to the NHS report on the PLACE survey is here.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/patient-led-assessments-of-the-care-environment-place/england---2024#

 

 

 

by philip

Watford General gets low scores from inpatients - Emergency and urgent care are average

  • Watford General Hospital is rated below others in England for inpatient feedback, with a 7.7 out of 10 overall score.  Inpatient areas where it got below average scores in an NHS 2023 patient survey were -- Doctors, Care and treatment, Nurses and Leaving hospital, which received a rating of just 6.5 out of 10
  • The Hospital rated above average on one measure - 'Operations and procedures' for inpatients.
  • Scores for the Watford Emergency Department were about average, although tests were not up to the English average.
  • Urgent Treatment Centres at Hemel and Watford were given 7.8 out of 10, which is 'similar to other providers across the country' according to the West Herts Trust which runs both hospitals. However, waiting times for the UTCs got a very low score of just 4.4 out of 10 
  • The full scores are on page 8 of the Patient_experience_strategy_Nov24V1D8 document just published.

by philip