Fewer nurses planned for Hemel Outpatients as rundown continues
- NHS bosses are planning cuts to nursing and support staff numbers at Hemel Hospital Outpatients department
- This would be the latest stage in the rundown of the Hospital by the West Herts Trust
- A Trust Board paper last week claimed that 'service demand' for outpatients at Hemel was well below that at other Hospitals
- The average number of appointments per day at Hemel was 125, against 224 for St Albans and 160-170 for Watford General
- The Hemel figure represents 'a significant reduction against planned volumes' the paper says
- Even with a 5% increase in demand, Hemel will have 'continued surplus capacity', it claims
- The Trust says this is 'an opportunity for workforce realignment' to the benefit of St Albans
- It looks likely that Hemel outpatients will be left with just 13.48 whole time equivalent (wte) nursing and clinical support staff
- There would be 24.99 wte for St Albans and 21.46 for Watford General
- The Hemel staff cuts would produce a saving of £271,000 per year
NHS bosses in building safety cover-up
- West Herts Trust bosses have refused to come clean on the progress - or otherwise - of crucial safety works on our local hospitals
- This follows an independent ‘Six Facet Survey’ carried out over two years ago that revealed many problems with the condition and maintenance of buildings at Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hospitals
- Scores of serious problems were given a 'C' rating in early 2024 - meaning ‘major repair or replacement is currently needed’.
- Examples of such critical conditions in just one building - Watford General’s Women and Children’s block - included problems with:
- Ventilation systems
- Coolers and chilling systems
- Control panels in the lifts
- Electrical switchgear and wiring
- Fuel supply, storage and distribution in the energy centre
- CCTV systems
- Internal drainage
- A member of DHAG – the Dacorum Health Action Group – asked the Trust for an update and timetable of specific actions taken to put right the worst problems
- But Trust bureaucrats refused to provide the information requested, saying only they 'keep estate-related risks under continual review'
- They claim to have 'robust mitigation plans in place' - but provided no details
- They also turned down the member's request to raise the safety issue with the Trust Board at its meeting last week
Hospital site could be part of near-1000-home estate as Government housing targets bite
- Nearly 1000 new homes could be built on the Hemel Hospital site and in the next-door Paradise area
- Government housing targets are encouraging more residential development in Dacorum
- In October 2024, the Council said in Cabinet papers that it would aim for 15,332 new homes in the Borough by 2041.
- And earlier this year Dacorum Investment Partnership (DIP) claimed the Borough required 'over 17,270 new homes' by 2041.
- DIP is a decision-sharing collaboration between housebuilders Hill Group and Dacorum Council
- Recently the local NHS proposed that a total of 639 homes should be built on the Hospital site - 189 more than previous plans
- That would mean complete demolition of the Hospital
- Some or all of the services remaining at the Hospital would be moved to two floors or so in a Market Square health centre
- The Paradise area, which adjoins the Hospital site, is separately planned to have over 300 new homes by 2041.
- The Dacorum Local Plan says that 'Tall buildings of up to 8 storeys' could be acceptable in Paradise if 'they have been identified
within the Paradise Design Code' - The two developments together could create a new estate of nearly 1000 homes.
- Below is the DIP document which refers to the higher housing target (see page 4)
- dacorum-investment-plan-2026
Berko, Tring and Villages to lose out in Hospital closure
- The Market Square Health health centre Hub is only intended to serve the town of Hemel
- NHS bosses and Dacorum councillors plan the Hub as a 'replacement' for the Hospital they want to close
- Dacorum Council's Local Plan says the Hub will provide 'hospital and other specialist facilities that serve the wider needs of the town [Hemel]'
- The hospital needs of the rest of the Borough, including Berkhamsted, Tring and Dacorum villages are not mentioned.
- And the Council's Plan also allows for the continued rundown by NHS bosses of hospital services at Hemel
- It says: 'When delivered, [the Market Square Hub] will likely replace much of the remaining facilities on the existing hospital site'
- The key word there is 'remaining'
- This means that services LEFT OVER at the Hospital at the time when the Hub is completed - possibly the early 2030s - would be transferred to the Hub
- Over the years there have been regular decreases in the scope of services available at Hemel Hospital.
- So there is no guarantee that the range of services NOW available at the Hospital will move across to the Hub
The recent Local Plan is here (search for 'hospital'):
6c51ee038c5a2ec1d736d333886c12a3_Dacorum_Local_Plan_to_2041
Civic Centre site to see 180 new homes as Hospital closure plans take shape
- 180 flats/houses are to be built on the former Civic Centre site by April 2031
- This is part of plans by Housebuilders Hill Group and Dacorum Council for at least 1500 new town centre homes
- Hill Group and the Council are collaborating in the Dacorum Investment Partnership (DIP)
- The NHS is now pushing for 639 flats/houses on the site of the Hospital after it is closed and demolished
- The Hospital's services will be moved to two floors of a planned new 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub on Market Square
- Community health services will be housed on one floor of the health centre, which received the backing of regional NHS bosses recently
- The Water Gardens car parks are to be the site of affordable housing and other development
- DIP has been asked to come up with plans for the hundreds of extra car spaces that will be needed for the Hub
- These are almost certain to be on extra layers of the Water Gardens North Car Park.
- The plans of DIP are set out in this Investment Plan (see especially pages 14-17 and page 22)
- dacorum-investment-plan-2026
Developers confirm Water Gardens car parks a housing 'priority'
- Housebuilders Hill Group and Dacorum Council have announced the first steps towards 17,270 more flats and houses for Dacorum
- Hill Group and the Council are collaborating in the Dacorum Investment Partnership (DIP) which aims to help meet Government housing targets and regenerate towns
- DIP has decided that the Water Gardens car parks are a 'priority' for housing and mixed-use development
- The partnership is also working up plans for more car parking to accommodate the demands of the Market Square neighbourhood health centre Hub - in the same area
- DIP has released a timetable for its first 18 months, with 'due diligence' testing on the Water Gardens car parks scheme this autumn
- The plan is for faster progress on homes for the site of the Civic Centre in Marlowes and Cherry Bounce overlooking the Old Town.
- Housing on the Cherry Bounce site should be complete by November 2029, and on the Civic Centre site by April 2031.
- The timetable is on page 22 of DIP's 2026 Investment Plan:
The Hub will be TOO SMALL to serve our Borough
- The Hemel Hub will be too small to serve the whole Borough of Dacorum
- Health bosses now admit it will only be a Neighbourhood Health Centre (NHC)
- The Hub will probably be the biggest type of NHC, a Core++.
- New NHS documents confirm that Core++ NHCs will serve 100,000 people
- Problem is ... the population of Dacorum is ALREADY over 165,000
- A big rise is expected in the number of people over 65 and living with frailty
- So demand will grow - but the Market Square Hub will not have the flexibility and space to meet the demand.
- Councillors need to explain why they are using Dacorum residents' council tax to help build a facility that will be inadequate for many of us on the day it opens
- This is the link to the new NHS guidance on NHCs -
- https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/neighbourhood-health-centres-design-and-performance-specification/
- Here are extracts from the NHS guidance relating to the various types of NHC:
- Guidance Extracts April 2026
Uncertainty over Hemel's last Hospital beds drags on
- The future of Hemel Hospital's final beds is clouded by uncertainty
- A review of the services of the 20-bed St Peter's rehabilitation ward should have been finished by December 2025
- The ward is run by Central London Community Healthcare Trust
- The ward has an important role in helping patients 'patients to manage their own health conditions and look after themselves.'
- Now DHAG has learned via an FOI bid that the review won't be made public until the summer or autumn of this year
- NHS bosses give mixed messages about whether the ward could transfer to the Market Square 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub
- The Trust list of services planned for inclusion in the Hub refers to an 'Inpatient rehabilitation ward'
- But the only floor plan made public makes no mention of the ward
Options for future of Hemel Hospital - survey
- A new survey by Dacorum Health Action Group asks the public whether they want a Market Square Health Campus - or development of the Hemel Hospital site
- Dacorum Council and the NHS have agreed that two options will be included in the new Local Plan - a key document on the future of the area
- This is the link to the survey:
- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SXW53MF
- The issues are covered in two documents sent to Local Plan inspectors in February 2026.
- The Hearing Statement by the NHS is number 960 if you follow the link below:
- https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/hearing-statements
- The Statement of Common Ground between the NHS and Dacorum Council is number DBC/ED46 if you follow the link below:
- https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/examination-documents
