News Updates

Win for campaigners as NHS boss admits we need a Hospital in Hemel

• Public pressure has forced the NHS to admit that Hemel needs a hospital rather than a mere Hub or Campus
• West  Herts NHS Trust boss Matt Coats told the Trust Board recently that 'We’ve agreed with our partners to develop a new modern community hospital' for Hemel.
• This is a major win for campaigners - the first NHS admission that a 'Hub' or a 'Campus' just won't do for the 155000 people of Dacorum
• BUT THERE IS STILL A PROBLEM
• The NHS believes the assertion by Dacorum Borough Council that the services we need can be squeezed onto the Market Square in Marlowes
• There must  be severe doubts about that, with parking under pressure and space at a premium
• There must be public discussion of other options that might work better and be better value for money  - including using part of the current Hospital site
• The battle continues!

by philip

Market Square Campus - show us the money

• Do the financial sums add up for the proposed Hemel Market Square Health Campus?
• At first glance they certainly don't.
• The big question is why paying many millions for a new structure on the Market Square is  good value for money when there are usable modern-ish buildings on the current site
• The Campus building could cost well over £30m, judging by the sum paid for the QE2 Hospital in Welwyn for example. Money is very tight indeed.
• Some money could come from grants for urban regeneration. There are some NHS funds for diagnostic facilities.
• BUT it's very doubtful that would be enough.
• Selling the current Hospital site would be one way of raising funds
• BUT - the sale value of a large part of the Hospital site was estimated at just £10m three years ago. Surely it's not possible that the value of the whole site has gone up so much?
• It does not look financially sensible for the NHS and Dacorum Council to even consider the Market Square option
• CAMPUS SUPPORTERS NEED TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY THINK THE CAMPUS WOULD BE GOOD VALUE FOR THE PATIENT AND THE TAXPAYER

by philip

Council's survey on Hub - will it give a true picture of opinion?

Dacorum Council is using a survey to seek views on the proposed Market Square Health Campus or Hub.

The survey has some features which make it unreliable as a guide to the true state of opinion:

• There is no reference to any alternatives to establishing the Campus on the Market Square. Treasury rules state that, to get the money for the project, the local NHS will have to consider 'a wide range of possible options'. The next stage in the project, the Strategic  Outline Case, MUST have a section on 'Making the case for change'. That means that keeping the Hospital where it is must be one of the alternatives. That key information is being kept from the public during this engagement.
• Some key questions about the benefits of the Campus/Hub are set out in a (frankly weird) way which favours acceptance of the concept. The survey sets out various features of the Hub and asks the respondent for the level of agreement. But in the box which would normally indicate strong disagreement there is, bizarrely, only the meaningless 'Strongly'. Perhaps a formatting error?
• It appears that multiple responses can be made from the same device. This suggests that the same person could respond many times (unless they are filtered out at a later stage). For comparison, the Dacorum Health Action Group survey, which does set out alternative options, does NOT allow such multiple responses.

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by philip

There IS an alternative to the Market Square Health Campus

• There IS an alternative to the Market Square Hub/Campus now being advertised
• A detailed 2021 proposal to make the current Hemel Hempstead Hospital the 'planned medicine centre' for the whole of West Herts was abandoned by the area's Trust.
• The improved Hemel Hospital would have focused on the Verulam Building and would have:
• been West Herts' top specialised centre for respiratory medicine, rheumatology, diabetes care, dermatology and older people's services, with increased specialist  appointments for other conditions
• provided 'updated and appropriate diagnostic facilities to deliver the best one-site care possible for patients who are not acutely unwell and do not need surgical intervention but do require hospital-delivered medical treatment in a setting that meets their clinical needs.'
• Would have allowed the Council to use the rest of the existing Hospital site for housing
• This practical alternative to the proposed Market Square Hub was given planning permission less than three years ago
• Why are we not being consulted on this option, which would have preserved the Hospital in the town??
• This is the link to the 2022 Hemel Hospital development plan:
• https://planning.dacorum.gov.uk/publicaccess/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RC83NRFOFKD00

by philip

Parking problems cast doubt on Hemel Hub plans

• Lack of car park space is causing the NHS and Dacorum Council concern as they push forward with the Market Square Hub scheme to replace Hemel Hospital
• In the past the Hub's backers have been confident that the Water Gardens car park can accommodate all the 400 or so cars which currently use spaces at the Hospital
• But today the Council admitted that parking  will have to be 'looked at in more detail as part of the business case'
• The Water Gardens car park has only 600 spaces in all. There is no way that it can take 400 extra vehicles - perhaps it needs a very pricey extra floor!
• And many of the spaces at the Water Gardens are many metres away from the Market Square - causing anxiety for people with mobility problems

by philip

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

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