TELL THE COUNCIL WE NEED BETTER HOSPITAL SERVICES IN HEMEL
There's a crucial chance for everyone who cares about healthcare in Hemel and Dacorum to make the case for BETTER HOSPITAL SERVICES.
With growing controversy over plans to close Hemel Hempstead Hospital and replace it with a Health Campus in Market Square, Dacorum Council are consulting the public over the Borough's Local Plan.
Here's the link to the consultation page:
https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/hub-page/localplan2023
THE FINAL DATE FOR RESPONSES IS 11 DECEMBER.
PLEASE TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THE CASE FOR MORE COMPREHENSIVE HOSPITAL SERVICES IN HEMEL. WE NEED ANSWERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO KEY QUESTIONS SUCH AS:
- WHAT WILL THE HEALTH CAMPUS OFFER TO PATIENTS ?
- WILL THE HEALTH CAMPUS JUST MATCH THE LIMITED SERVICES NOW OFFERED AT HEMEL HOSPITAL, OR
- WILL IT HOUSE BETTER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES AND SOCIAL CARE?
- IS IT WORTH PUTTING UP AN EXPENSIVE NEW BUILDING IF THE SERVICES ARE NO BETTER?
THE COUNCIL ARE PLANNING THOUSANDS MORE FLATS AND HOUSES FOR DACORUM. WE NEED HEALTH SERVICES TO MATCH.
ANGER OVER FUTURE OF HEMEL HEMPSTEAD HOSPITAL
Local social media is full of anger over reports that Hemel Hempstead Hospital - or what is left of it after years of w West Herts Trust neglect - is to close. Just one example from scores of complaints on the Next Door newsfeed:
Who else disagrees with our Hemel Hospital closing down for good. It's a disgusting idea. I understand that there's not much available at Hemel at the moment but it's there. Not everyone has transport and the public transport is not the greatest. It seems they want young families here but no Hospital.
It looks very much as if Hemel Hospital IS slated for closure, but the full story is a bit more complicated.
The Council hope to build a 'Health Campus' on the site of the Market Square in the Marlowes. This would be a substantial building which MIGHT house social care, primary care and other bodies as well as the services currently provided by the Hospital., with some small tweaks. It would be a sort of replacement for the Hospital.
It might help with regeneration of the town.
But ...
If that is all, it's unlikely to add much healthcare value. There's little point in moving just the limited current NHS services from Hemel Hospital over to the Market Square.
What we need to press for is BETTER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE health and hospital services for the growing and ageing population of Hemel and Dacorum. We will need those as Watford General deteriorates and undergoes massive disruption as the Trust try to build their £1.2 bn tower block hospital there.
Or even better, we should have a new hospital on a new site.
TRUST'S £61 MILLION PLAN FOR HEMEL HOSPITAL LOOKS DOOMED AS WATFORD GENERAL SOAKS UP THE CASH
A £61 million investment in hospital services promised to the people of Hemel Hempstead by the West Herts Hospitals Trust looks increasingly unlikely to happen.
The demands of building the £1.1 bn plus hospital on the difficult and expensive Watford General site are draining money away amid a growing cash crisis for the Trust.
Just 18 months ago, in May 2022, the Trust agreed and publicised a plan which would see Hemel Hempstead Hospital developed as THE centre for planned medical care in West Herts, with a wide range of services including rapid diagnostic tests.
It was supposed to be a central part of a 'three site solution' for hospital care, with Dacorum people benefitting in many ways, both clinically and economically.
But nothing concrete has happened. The promised money has dried up.
- There has been no business case for development at Hemel - a crucial omission
- Dacorum Council talk about new health facilities in the heart of Hemel, but there's no clarity about a site or funding
- Some backlog maintenance at Hemel continues to be neglected. as the buildings deteriorate further
The Trust has not delivered for Dacorum - it never does.
The Trust is likely to run a deficit of £22m this year, and it will have to use some of the money originally earmarked for building and new equipment to fund day-to-day work. That desperate policy has been savagely attacked by the Government's spending watchdog as short-sighted.
AS EVER, THE TRUST'S PRIORITY IS TO POUR MONEY INTO WATFORD. THAT DISAPPEARING £61 MILLION WOULD HAVE GIVEN HEMEL A MUCH-NEEDED BOOST AND ENSURED ACCESSIBLE CARE FOR MANY THOUSANDS.
THE TRUST HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO.
ST ALBANS HOSPITAL IMPROVEMENTS DELAYED AMIDST TRUST CASH CRISIS
Money intended for new buildings and services at St Albans Hospital is being diverted to day-to-day operations as the West Herts Trust struggles to keep financially afloat.
There was tough questioning at the Trust's Board meeting this week as officials explained that work intended for this year on a new surgical hub, endoscopy and a diagnostic centre is being delayed until next year at the earliest. Funds which are supposed to go towards buildings and equipment are being used to meet 'revenue' - running - costs.
The cash crisis shows that the Trust is very unlikely to be able both to afford the £1.1 bn plus tower block hospital on the Vicarage Road site at Watford and still run its services to a decent standard. The towering infirmary would waste huge sums of money because of the difficult site and the interference with everyday operation of the existing Hospital.
The Trust faces a likely deficit of at least £22m this financial year as senior management pleas to cut spending fail to make a difference across the organisation. Patient demands on the main clinical departments have led to stubborn deficits in the year to date. The Surgery Division's costs are £4.8m higher than planned, Medicine Division's costs are £6.8m above budget, and Emergency Division's costs are £3.8m above budget.
With winter on the way, these figures could easily get worse.
Faced with deficits like this in other big hospital trusts in Herts and West Essex, the regional supervisory body, the ICS, is demanding even tighter controls over spending.
The result could be that the local West Herts Trust loses some of its independence.
We may be fed up with the Trust's performance and bias towards Watford General - but the risk is that an even more remote and unaccountable body could end up running our health services.
COULD YOU SHAKE UP THE WEST HERTS TRUST BOARD?
There's a great opportunity for a professional to begin to make waves on the West Herts Trust Board.
At present, there's not a single non-executive director on the Trust Board with a main residence in Dacorum.
We desperately need more people who understand Dacorum's health needs, to make the grossly unbalanced West Herts Board fairer.
Can you help to correct that outrageous situation?
The NHS is running a recruitment campaign for a Non-Executive Director for West Herts Trust - they must have senior experience as a registered nurse, midwife or an allied professional.
Do you have that sort of experience - or do you know someone who does?
It would be great if someone from Dacorum could get on the Board. That would be a small but important step towards ensuring the Borough's health and hospital needs are properly represented in decision-making, for the first time for years.
It would also be good if there was someone on the Board with an independent mind - who could push for alternatives to the Trust's disastrous plans for Watford General.
This is the link to the application forms. You'll have to be quick - closing date is 1 November.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/non-executive-opportunities/2023/10/10/west-hertfordshire-teaching-hospitals-nhs-trust-non-executive-director/
GOOD LUCK!
TRUST FAILS DACORUM AS HEMEL INVESTMENT IS KICKED INTO VERY LONG GRASS
The future of Hemel Hempstead Hospital looks more uncertain than ever, with West Herts Trust looking at 'options' for the site.
Ambitious plans for a major Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) for the town have slipped well behind schedule, with the Trust refusing this week to explain why.
CDCs offer one-stop visits for checks, scans and tests, to achieve early diagnoses for patients, timely treatment and intervention.
In November 2022, the Trust made a big promise that Hemel would be the 'hub' of a West Herts CDC, with St Albans as a mere 'spoke'. A 'new build extension' to accommodate the Hemel CDC was planned for 2024.
But nothing has happened to bring this important facility any closer.
When asked the target date for submitting a business case for the Hemel CDC, a Trust official told this week's Board meeting that there was no date yet. So there is no chance of anything being built for many years. 'Options' for the site are being explored - which, according to many sources, is likely to include closure and replacement by a new facility in the town centre. There is no detail whatsoever on what that might mean,
Expect a glorified GP's surgery at most.
Financially, West Herts look to be abandoning Hemel Hospital and hoping for someone else to pick up the tab for services in Dacorum. Papers for this week's Board meeting say:
bids have been submitted for alternative funding for planned care services, where this is available. The future [?] for St Albans lend themselves readily to these individual service bids, whereas the focus at Hemel Hempstead is on developing care pathways ahead of significant investment to consolidate the site.
This sounds as if the Trust are optimistic about outside funding for St Albans but not for investment at Hemel, where the focus is simply on 'consolidation' of the site.
It is clearer than ever that the Trust, faced with a huge bill for Watford General's towering infirmary project, are intent on cutting back hard on investment anywhere else.
As ever, the big losers are the people of Dacorum, who are faced with long journeys for treatment in the shambles that is Watford General.
CASH CRISIS FOR TRUST AS TREATING PATIENTS IN CORRIDORS PROVES EXPENSIVE
West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust is facing a potential £33 million deficit this year as costs run out of control and the Government refuses to pay for high inflation. The best scenario for 2023-24 is a deficit of £11 million.
The Trust may have to borrow this autumn just to keep afloat - just as it prepares to borrow another billion to build the Watford General triple towers.
The Trust Board will hear at a meeting tomorrow (7 September) that:
- A and E pressures including opening 'surge beds' and 'caring for patients in Emergency Department corridors' have bust the budget by £1.5 m
- The drugs and clinical supplies budget has been overspent by £2.7m
- The budget for outsourcing - which is supposed to save money - is overspent by £500,000
- The Trust is burning through its cash reserves rapidly - it had £35 m 'in the bank' in March, £16.9m in May and just £11m in July. Borrowing could be needed by early next year
- Tight spending controls are being imposed to bring costs down
THE GOVERNMENT'S FAILURE TO FUND INFLATION AND THE IMPACT OF THE STRIKES HAVE MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR THE TRUST.
OTHER TRUSTS ARE PROBABLY SUFFERING TOO.
BUT QUESTIONS MUST BE ASKED ABOUT WHY THE WEST HERTS TRUST MANAGEMENT HAS ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN QUITE SO QUICKLY - AND WHY, FOR INSTANCE, HIGH SPENDING HAS NOT BROUGHT BETTER RESULTS IN A AND E, WHERE WEST HERTS LAGS THE REST OF THE NHS ON SOME MEASURES
WATFORD GENERAL 'SINKHOLE' HAS ITS FIRST BIRTHDAY - BUT NO-ONE'S CELEBRATING
The collapsed services duct unpopularly known as the Watford General sinkhole has just passed its first birthday. The Trust have been struggling to sort out the mess in the road by the main hospital entrance for a year now, and the digger is still digging.
To be fair it looks as if they are nearing the end of the fiasco and the road may be open before too long. That would be a big relief to patients and staff.
But the saga has shown up the frailty of the vital services tunnels, with cables and pipes, under the hospital. The Trust took months to work out what had happened and what repairs were needed. They still don't know what lies beneath the old buildings and how safe it would be be to build on top. All sorts of things, including asbestos and other pollutants, may be down there.
That matters because it looks likely that the Trust will have to use the site of the existing buildings in the future, for whatever new hospital emerges from the mess that is the acute redevelopment project.
This is just a terrible place to put a new hospital.
ARE WE SAFE IN THE HANDS OF THE NHS? RATE YOUR LOCAL SERVICES
Hertfordshire's top NHS body is asking the public to rate local health and social care services by how good - and how safe - they are.
People will also be able to say how well online services provided by GPs and others are working. The Integrated Care Board (ICB) for Herts and West Essex is running the online survey.
This is a chance to tell the NHS what we think of it, and the Dacorum Health Action Group (DHAG) is urging people to take the chance to get their voices heard.
DHAG Chair Philip Aylett says:
'It's not often that the NHS lays itself open to judgment like this, and I hope a lot of people will take the opportunity to make clear where services are safe and of good quality - and where they're failing. That means we can say what is good or bad at Watford General, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead Hospitals, but also give our views of GP and social care services.
'The NHS is going to rely more and more on online services in the future, so we need to tell it where they can be improved.
'This is a simple survey which doesn't take long to do. I hope lots of people will fill it in.'
The link to the NHS survey is below
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/4M3QZ1/
How confident do you feel, using a scale of 1-5, that the care you or a family member received was safe?
MONEY PUZZLE AS DACORUM COUNCIL HEARS CASE FOR BEEFING UP HEMEL HOSPITAL
Dacorum Health Action Group (DHAG) Chair Philip Aylett made the case for investment in Hemel Hempstead Hospital to a full meeting of Dacorum Council this week.
He called on the Council to press West Herts Trust to keep a wide range of hospital services in Dacorum, Hertfordshire's largest borough, slamming as 'misleading' claims by the Trust that their current plans would give Hemel Hospital a 'distinct role' for the future in hosting planned medical appointments. Trust documents analysed by DHAG show that Watford will retain its role as the area's main centre for planned medical appointments.
And there is a mystery about money for new hospital developments, with the Trust position confused.
Council Leader Ron Tindall reported that he was in discussion with the Trust about health services for Dacorum, but revealed that there was no news about finance for any development. Mr Tindall said of his talks with Trust Chief Executive Matthew Coats and Chair Phil Townsend:
We couldn’t actually come to a great deal because the government are still keeping their cards very close to their chest and we’ve still got no details about the money, which is unfortunate because nothing else can be decided without that.
Dr Aylett commented: 'It was good to get a sympathetic hearing and to see that there is interest from our elected representatives in Dacorum in ensuring good hospital services here. There seems to be a cross-party recognition that we need to have convenient hospital care close to home. Action is needed - there is no guarantee in the plans of the unelected and untransparent Trust that Hemel Hospital would have a clear future role, despite their misleading claims to the contrary.
'Whatever happens in the Borough there seems to be agreement across the Council that a new emergency care and specialist hospital on a clear new site would still be the best way forward for Dacorum residents.
'But we are a long way from decisions, and confusion reigns about funding. The Trust say they are unable to tell the Council what money will be available for redevelopment, but less than two months ago they welcomed a Government announcement of 'full funding' for their preferred option at Watford. No funding figures were made public.
'Does that mean that, while Watford funding is agreed, Hemel and St Albans Hospitals will still have to fight for financial support? Or was the 'full funding' announcement just mostly hot air, as we have suspected all along?
'In recent months the Trust has gone into its shell, with almost no public engagement about its plans. The funding picture for Dacorum and West Herts generally is totally unclear and the mystery needs clearing up.'