Will new Partnership affect future of Hemel Hospital?

  • A supporter of Dacorum Health Action Group has asked West Herts NHS Trust whether the recent signing of the Dacorum Investment Partnership (DIP) involving the Borough Council and housebuilders the Hill Group will affect the future of the existing site of Hemel Hospital
  • DIP is an agreement 'aimed at increasing the number of affordable homes and delivering major regeneration projects across the borough'.
  • According to the Council, 'A key priority will be Hemel Hempstead town centre, where our Town Centre Vision sets out plans to transform it into a thriving culture and leisure hub'.
  • The NHS and the Council are exploring the idea of replacing the Hospital with a Health Campus on the Market Square in the Marlowes
  • The supporter has made this Freedom of Information request:
  • 'Is the co-operation agreement recently announced between Dacorum Borough Council and The Hill Group conditional upon The Hill Group being given sole rights to redevelop land which currently hosts Hemel Hempstead Hospital (and is, I understand, at present owned by the NHS.) ?'

by philip

Developers get together with Council - but will it be a lucky DIP for our Hospital?

  • Developers and Council promise 'new homes, commercial spaces, and leisure opportunities' for Hemel town centre
  • But there's no mention of a Hospital in the announcement of joint regeneration venture -Dacorum Investment Partnership - DIP 
  • Have key decisions on the fate of our Hospital already been taken by the DIP partners?
  • Is it now certain that the Hospital will close to be replaced by Market Square Campus or Hub?
  • Will we get the public consultation on our Hospital promised by Keir Starmer?
  • The link to the announcement is here:
  • https://www.dacorum.gov.uk/home/all-news/2025/08/11/investment-partnership-to-deliver-affordable-new-homes-and-regeneration

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

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

Exploring new hospital sites - the NHS sets out the to-do list

West Herts NHS Trust explained how, in 18 months or less, a new site  could become the 'preferred option' for the area's emergency care hospital.

The work towards a new preferred option, set out in a paper for the Trust Board in May 2022, would include:

  •  an updated site search to identify suitable potential sites
  • an appraisal of these sites to identify any viable options / a shortlist of
    potential sites
  • more detailed appraisal of the shortlist to identify one or more preferred
    options
  • initial review of site infrastructure requirements
  • preliminary commercial negotiations
  • exploratory discussions with relevant planning authorities
  • detailed feasibility studies and 1:500 designs for the identified site/s to produce robust and comparable capital costs for the shortlist appraisal
  • The paper  says 'Once all the above had been completed the detailed option appraisal could be updated and a new preferred option recommendation ascertained. It is anticipated that it would take c.12 to 18 months to complete the above work and cost in excess of £2m.' 
  • There would then be more detailed work on the new preferred option, including getting planning permission. That could take between 9 and 18 months.
  • Even if this preliminary work on a new option took the maximum time calculated by the Trust, the project would be well on the way by 2028.
  • The Watford General project does not have full planning permission and no final design has been determined

The papers are here - see Tab 5.2 - shortlist review   May_2022_board_papers2

by philip

The West Herts Trust doesn't want you to see these reports

  • The decision to reject all possible clear new accessible sites for a new emergency and specialist West Hertfordshire Hospital was based on a single technical assessment by NHS civil servants published in 2020
  • This 'site feasibility study'  (SFS) said that it would be quicker and less risky to build a new hospital facility at Watford General than at any clear new site in a place that West Herts people could reach more easily (page 3)
  • This SFS has been suppressed by the Trust - it has been removed from the Trust website and the Trust has done its best to make it impossible for the public to trace it on the internet
  • But the New Hospital Campaign have kept a copy - attached!
  • Also attached is a report by an independent expert commissioned by the New Hospital Campaign which says it would be quicker to build on a clear new accessible site than to build at Watford General
  • That report, by Mike Naxton, says: 'The Watford site would seem to take a much longer period to deliver a fully functional facility under the proposed redevelopment plans than would be the case with the Greenfield New Build option.' He continues that there is a 'high risk of time and cost overruns as a result of
    encountering unforeseen problematic conditions on an existing aged operational hospital estate
    such as Watford.' (page 26)
  • Please feel free to make your own choice! 
  • This is the report with the assessment by NHS civil servants:
  • WHHT Site Feasibility Report - 210820 - final
  • This is the independent report:
  • Full-Naxton-Report-with-Appendices

by philip

Is it built of Lego or not? Trust muddle over 'actual design' of new hospital

  • West Herts Trust's new website sows confusion over the design for the proposed Watford General rebuild
  • Its redevelopment page proudly proclaims that a video shows 'the actual design' of the costly new hospital, suggesting the main design work has been done and dusted
  • No such luck. There are big differences between the two images of the design of the entrance block which appear next to each other on the same website page.
  • One image (the top one below) shows a rounded building with a consistent height, smoothly linking into the 200 foot-plus towers where most patients will be
  • The other image (the bottom one below from a slightly different angle) shows a squared-off building with varying heights, awkwardly butting up against the closely-packed tower blocks. Legoland Watford.

by philip

Watford General patients could face years of disruption from two huge building schemes

Councils consider plan which could mean many years of disruption for Watford General patients, as two major building projects happen at the same time.

  • Joint scrutiny committee is looking at proposals to bring relocated new Mount Vernon Cancer Centre together with Watford General rebuild.
  • Cancer Centre needs to be near a general hospital for safer and better patient care
  • Plans could mean £1.4bn 260-foot towering infirmary being built at same time as £465m cancer centre to replace Mount Vernon centre - on virtually same site
  • Current main building could be facing noise and pollution nuisance from two sides for many years.
  • Plans being considered by joint local authority committee would also mean Watford site being run by two separate Trusts - with risk of management chaos
  • Houses, flats and hotels also likely to be built at same time within a few metres of new buildings
  • NHS unlikely to consider the best option - a clear new site for both new buildings away from cramped Vicarage Road which would provide better access and environment - and better value for money

The papers for the joint committee are below - see Agenda Pack page 20.

Public reports pack 16122024 1000 Joint Health Overview Scrutiny Committee

by philip

Building experts warn of soaring costs and delays for Watford General rebuild

Two building experts warn today that severe shortage of skilled workers could cause even more delays and higher costs for the planned £1.4bn rebuild of Watford General Hospital - which is already years behind schedule.

  • Construction companies last week raised alarm that there are too few workers to meet the needs of the Government's massive national house building push and other projects
  • Lack of capacity in the workforce will increase costs and make contractors shy away from high risk projects - like the complicated Watford General Hospital rebuild
  • The sloping site and closeness to main clinical buildings make the Watford project complex and costly
  • Treasury, who have to pay the bills for new hospitals, will be 'unnerved' by rising costs in an over-heated market - with Watford General a bad case of costs running out-of-control
  • Clear new site for West Herts' emergency care and specialist hospital could offer lower cost and risk

The experts, Bob Scott and Trevor Williams, are both supporters of the New Hospital Campaign. Their statements are here:

Release on industry shortages Dec 2024

 

 

by philip

Watford General rebuild could be 'one of the biggest hospital building failures'

A vastly experienced building expert has warned plans to rebuild Watford General Hospital could lead to a massive and very expensive 'building failure'.

The dire warning came in a letter to Hemel Hempstead MP David Taylor from Bob Scott,  a former senior executive of major construction and property development companies. His experience covered many NHS hospital projects as well as other major building projects.

In the letter Mr Scott, a member of the New Hospital Campaign:

  • SLAMMED the decision to press ahead with rebuilding Watford General as being driven by political considerations rather than public need,
  • WARNED that extensive demolition, civil engineering works and removal of contaminated soil would bring 'adverse environmental conditions' for patients in Watford General wards,
  • POINTED TO the risk of high construction costs from building very tall tower blocks at Watford.

Mr Scott concluded:

I fear that, as matters stand, if the Trust’s redevelopment proposals proceed, they have all the ingredients to result in one of the biggest hospital building failures the country has experienced.

Mr Scott's letter is below:

Letter as sent to D Taylor MP 12 Aug 24

 

by philip