Trust's neglect has created a town centre eyesore for Hemel
- This is what local NHS bosses have done to a key site in Hemel's town centre
- Cheere House is a minute or two from the Marlowes
- It was Hemel's first dedicated hospital building - but years of Trust neglect have reduced it to a dilapidated eyesore, blighting the heart of our town
- Contrary to misinformation from official sources, many of the buildings on the 5-hectare Hemel Hospital site are in usable condition
- But Cheere House, built nearly 200 years ago, is an exception that shames NHS bosses
- West Herts Trust have left this historic building in a dilapidated state in a years-long act of planned neglect
- WHAT IS THE SOLUTION FOR THIS MESS?
- FLATS: The Trust and Dacorum Council want to see the development of hundreds more flats, taking over the whole Hospital site and building a Market Square Health Hub as a replacement
- A NEW HOSPITAL: The last time independent experts assessed the options, in 2018, they chose this as the site for a NEW local hospital with good parking and access. It could have room for necessary expansion as our population grows
- WHICH IS THE BETTER OPTION?
Dacorum's Disappearing Documents - Council loses ANOTHER key report
- Why does Dacorum Council keep on losing - or deleting - key documents about the future of our Hospital?
- It emerged some time ago that the Council no longer had a detailed 70-page expert technical report assessing possible Dacorum sites for a new hospital building
- This week, in answer to an FOI request, the Council admitted to no longer having a separate 57-page draft strategic outline case (SOC) document
- The Council was closely involved in the drafting of both documents and jointly paid for the 70-pager.
- The documents were from 2016-18 - but they are very relevant to today to the future of the Borough, not just the NHS
- That's because the documents assessed the quality of sites for a local hospital very similar to the 'Campus' or Hub proposed for Market Square
- They both favoured a new building on the most accessible part of the current Hemel Hospital site
- The 'SOC' rated the Market Square site as JOINT WORST in the town as a site for a hospital
- BUT Dacorum councillors did not have this to hand when they backed a joint bid with the NHS for £135m to build the Hub on the Market Square
- The Council should perhaps check its record-keeping policies so it can avoid accidental deletion of such important documents in future
- Luckily some people are less careless with important information. Here is the document:
HVCCG SOC draft v10_12Sep18_Project Group
The experts' choice for a new hospital site
- This is what three top expert firms chose as the BEST site for a NEW local Hospital in Hemel. Zoom in on the image below.
- This plan was drawn up by these independent professionals the last time the NHS looked at the future for our Hospital, in 2016-18
- It would use part of the existing Hospital site - see the area in blue
- It would be on the corner of King Harry Street and Hillfield Road, very close to the Marlowes and bus stops
- To start with, 'Option 2' would provide the services currently at the Hospital
- BUT IT WOULD HAVE TWO MAJOR ADVANTAGES OVER THE CRAMPED MARKET SQUARE OPTION:
- There would be plenty of room for dedicated parking
- There would be plenty of room for the expansion of facilities that will be necessary as our population grows and ages
- The plan would allow room for over 400 apartments (in yellow) but recent planning changes mean the number could be reduced.
Dossier of damaging evidence on Hemel Hub to be sent to Council and NHS
- The last time the NHS and Dacorum Council considered possible sites for a new local hospital, technical experts advised them AGAINST using Market Square
- At the time, 2016-18, independent technical consultancies said the best place for a NEW HOSPITAL would be on part of the existing hospital site
- That plot is close to the Marlowes, with potential for easy access from King Harry Street
- That option - not considered in the current process - got an expert rating of over 80%.
- By contrast, the Market Square option came out JOINT BOTTOM of a list of possible sites, with just 50%, failing to impress on:
- Deliverability
- Functional suitability and operational efficiency
- Strategic flexibility
- Wider economic benefit
- The evidence is set out in a dossier of documents that will be sent in the New Year to the Council and the West Herts Trust:
- Key parts of a draft Feasibility Study on the Redevelopment of Hemel Hempstead Hospital commissioned by the Council and the NHS. These public bodies deny now having this 70+ page document.
- A 57-page draft Strategic Outline Case which went through a lengthy process of discussion by Council and NHS bodies in 2017 and 2018.
- There have been no fundamental changes in the situation at Hemel since 2018
- This is worrying evidence that the NHS and Dacorum Council are WRONG to push forward with the plan to replace Hemel Hospital with a Market Square Hub.
'Commercial interests' cited as Council keep Hospital closure evidence secret
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- Dacorum Council says the public have no right to see the evidence behind its decision to back the closure of Hemel Hospital
- The Council claims its 'commercial interests' - and those of unspecified others - take priority over the public's right to know
- The Council turned down a Freedom of Information request from a DHAG member about the process for deciding to press for the Hospital to be closed and replaced by a Hub.
- A Council officer said making the evidence for the decision public could 'prejudice future stages of the scheme, as well as the ability to obtain best value in terms of future funding and contracts'.
- This would 'likely prejudice the commercial interests of any person/body including the local authority.'
- The evidence for the closure decision was 'received by the Council in circumstances where there has been no obligation to provide information'. Publication would, the Council claimed, pose a 'risk of discouraging others from engaging in such research in the future.'
- The Council also failed to provide details of the longlist of possible options which had been drawn up by the Council and the NHS
- Key extracts from the letter from the Council are below:
- Final-FOI-Dec-25-1 (3)
Trust misleads public and councillors on future of Hemel endoscopy service
- West Herts Trust suggests Hemel's much-appreciated endoscopy service can only be provided in the Market Square Hub
- The service is currently provided in a modern environment in Hemel Hospital's 1990s Verulam Wing
- A misleading slide used in the 'engagement' sessions and Council meetings claims that the 'Health Campus' was needed to continue a full endoscopy service for Dacorum
- The slide lists among the things 'Option 4 provides above all other options' - 'Maintaining provision of full Endoscopy service in Dacorum, no need to travel to access Endoscopy Services at other sites.'
- The Trust suggests it will have to move the service to St Albans if the Hub is not agreed
- This is nonsense, playing on people's fears
- Endoscopy could easily continue to be provided in the Verulam Wing
- In fact the Trust has just signed a £2.5m contract for refurbishing the service in that Wing
- SO THERE IS NOTHING TO STOP THE TRUST KEEPING ENDOSCOPY AT HEMEL - EXCEPT ITS DESIRE TO CLOSE OUR HOSPITAL FOR GOOD
Hub car park will be far too small - this week's pictures
- A Dacorum councillor once claimed the Market Square Hub would be 'swimming in parking spaces'
- That's nonsense - just look at these pictures
- Hub fans want to close Hemel Hospital (which has over 400 car spaces) and shift the cars to the Water Gardens facility
- The Water Gardens car park has just 600 spaces - and today, Wednesday 17th December, it was well over half full
- Can't these people count?
Hemel Hub is not that new
- Claims that the Hemel Health Campus or Hub, planned for the Market Square, is a stunningly new concept are well wide of the mark
- In 2018, Dacorum Council and the NHS thought about building something very similar, in a new building on the existing Hemel Hospital site
- This is some of what was considered in 2018:
- A local hospital that would be between 6000 and 10000 sq metres.
- It would stress: 'Supporting local people to stay well and prevent ill-health through co-ordinated services – which encourages people to make healthy choices
Empowering people to take an active part in their own care – to enable pro-active condition management and better information availability
Ensuring people receive care in the right place, as close to home as possible – making primary care a central focus to keep people out of hospital
Joining-up services for better care and better patient experience – supporting a person, not just a condition . - It would be 'an opportunity to provide expanded GP services, with extended hours, supporting outpatient clinics and diagnostics in a modern setting that cannot be provided elsewhere in Dacorum.'
- The aims would be to: Relieve pressure on Watford General Hospital (WGH)
Support community and mental health services
Provide a base for GP-led care on a locality basis
Create strong links to the Dacorum Borough Council services that will be provided nearby
Create opportunities for voluntary sector and community support groups to support integrated, holistic care. - The aim was to include:
- access to pharmacists including dispensing pharmacy. Specialist GP working with specialist
consultants.
Children - out-of-hour services, Tier1 and Tier2 CAMH and online counselling.
Maternity - health visits and routine scans
Mental Health - IAPT, memory services and dementia services.
- THE MARKET SQUARE CAME NINTH EQUAL OUT OF TEN OPTIONS FOR THE LOCATION OF THIS
- The publicity material for the 2025 Hub (likely to be 8000 square metres) includes this:
- Focusing on prevention and local care - A campus will help shift the focus from treating people only when they reach a health crisis, to supporting their health earlier – helping people stay well and stay at home when possible. Rather than relying on hospital visits, more care will happen locally, in the community, with teams working together to support you before health problems get worse.
- Shifting the focus of delivery to early help and prevention, with a particular emphasis on reducing health inequalities and ageing well
Deliver care closer to home, including through multi-disciplinary teams that support more complex, older residents and reduce onward demand for acute care - Central to that will be bringing services together into a more joined-up and integrated health and care service, so we can more effectively meet the future needs of the local community.
- Spaces for local wellbeing events led by community and faith groups
A reminder of what the public seem to think about the Hospital closure plan
- Over 95% of more than 1000 people said in the summer of 2025 that they wanted development on the current Hemel Hospital site
- The informal poll gave a mere 3.29% approval to the Campus or Hub planned for the Market Square in the town
Has Hemel Hospital closure plan stalled?
- Mystery surrounds the fate of the bid by Dacorum Council and the local NHS to close Hemel Hospital and replace it with a ‘neighbourhood health centre’
- The plan should have been approved by regional NHS bosses at a 28 November meeting of the Integrated Care Board
- That would pave the way for a bid to Whitehall for taxpayers' funds for the switch - said to cost £135m
- But there was NOTHING ABOUT THE project on the agenda for the meeting
- There was no discussion of the Hub/closure plan in the public part of the meeting
- DHAG has had to put in a FOI request asking whether he subject came up.
- No answer yet
- It's possible the authorities have been having second thoughts, with widespread public opposition to the closure.
- But it's more likely that bosses have approved the bid in complete secrecy, in a private 'Part 2' session
- WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE SO AFRAID TO TELL US WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO OUR TOWN?