MP GRABS HEADLINES WITH HEMEL HOSPITAL PLEDGE - BUT WILL THE NHS DELIVER?
- Great local news coverage for MP David Taylor's pledge to push the NHS for a 'community hospital' in Hemel if the current Hemel Hempstead Hospital is closed to make way for hundreds of houses and flats
- Before the election Mr Taylor said the replacement Hemel Community Hospital should have:
- Diagnostic services (e.g. scans and x-rays, blood tests)
- 24/7 urgent care and treatment (the Urgent Treatment Centre with proper out of
hours support for local residents without the need to go to Watford in most cases)
- Treatment for minor procedures (lumps, bumps, hernia, cataracts, bunions)
- Mental health and wellbeing services
- Treatment for vulnerable patients with conditions such as Parkinson’s or dementia
- Patient transfer services
- Full rehabilitation and step down wards - getting local residents back into the
community and near their support networks as soon as possible.
- There is a crying need to expand hospital services to meet the growing demand from our ageing population - a rise of nearly 40% in the number of over-65s in just twenty years
- Disappointingly, the NHS plans would, at the most, see the limited current hospital services moved from the existing Hemel Hospital site to a Health Hub or Campus in Hemel's Market Square - no mention of expansion to meet growing needs
- What will happen to the 100,000 outpatient appointments and 50,000 urgent care cases a year that happen at Hemel Hempstead Hospital now? Will they still be provided at a new Hub?
- There are no guarantees that David Taylor's ambitions will become reality - Dacorum Health Action Group will keep the pressure up on the reluctant authorities
DAVID TAYLOR TO OPPOSE REDUCED ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES
- Hemel MP David Taylor will take an 'absolute hard line' against 'any changes in the provision of healthcare in Hemel' that would 'result in reduced access to services for residents'
- In a statement to the Berko News magazine, David's senior parliamentary researcher also said Mr Taylor is 'currently speaking to all stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, as well as taking steps to ensure that residents' thoughts and concerns are listened to'.
- The researcher added David 'is meeting with and hearing the perspectives of a varied mix of stakeholders at a high level. He will be very pleased to share more on this once future meetings have concluded, and he has received all the relevant information necessary'
- The 'high level' stakeholders have included the West Herts NHS Trust and the regional Integrated Care Board
- The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement defined 'stakeholder' in 2009 as 'anyone who may be affected by your improvement project.'
HEMEL HOSPITAL SERVICES FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE - HERE IS THE CHECKLIST
- Dacorum Council and NHS plans to close Hemel Hempstead Hospital and replace it with a Health Hub in the former Market Square mean the hospital services available to Dacorum people face an uncertain future.
- During the Election, Hemel MP David Taylor pledged to push for a Community Hospital for the town.
- As a checklist of what has been happening to our local NHS, and a baseline for might happen in future, here is the tally of services the NHS claimed to be providing at Hemel Hospital just three years ago, in September 2021.
- Some, like the Fracture Clinic, have already been moved elsewhere. Surgery and maternity seem to have disappeared too
- SERVICES LISTED BY NHS AS AVAILABLE AT HEMEL HEMPSTEAD HOSPITAL IN SEPTEMBER 2021:
- Urgent treatment centre,
- Cardiology,
- dermatology,
- diabetes,
- gastroenterology,
- general medicine,
- haematology,
- neurology,
- neurophysiology,
- older peoples services,
- rheumatology,
- respiratory medicine,
- stroke,
- audiology,
- clinical oncology,
- general, colorectal and vascular surgery,
- urology,
- ear, nose and throat,
- fracture clinic,
- children's services,
- gynaecology,
- obstetrics and maternity
How many of these services will be locally available in Dacorum after the move to the Market Square?
WEAK COUNCIL PLAN COULD MEAN DOWNGRADE FOR HOSPITAL SERVICES
- Inadequate Dacorum Council plans risk a poorer future for Hemel's health services
- Dacorum Borough Council's local plan needs to be strengthened to prevent the NHS downgrading the Borough's hospital facilities
- NHS services must be expanded to meet the needs of Borough's growing and ageing population (numbers of over-65s will rise 35% in the next 20 years)
- But the Council's draft plan gives no guarantee even that all inadequate existing services will be maintained in the planned Health Hub which could take the place of Hemel Hospital. It says only the Hub 'will likely replace much of the remaining facilities on the existing hospital site.'
- The NHS refuses to guarantee that the Hemel Urgent Care Centre (40000 cases a year) will be maintained or replaced
- The Council needs to stand up for our local hospital services - and not let the NHS downgrade them further
The Dacorum Local Plan is below - see especially paragraph 2.44
Appendix A_Local Plan to 2041 for SPAE
WATFORD GENERAL SAFETY RISKS REVEALED
Safety risks at Watford General Hospital have been kept secret for months - after the Trust were told about them in an independent report in the spring. Risks not made public until now included:
- Fire doors, signage for escape, electrical testing and inspection and storage of flammable materials which all failed to meet standards in parts of the main clinical building, Princess Michael of Kent
- They had a C or D rating - meaning they contravened laws or guidance on safety
- FOI request by a local resident forced Trust to admit to failings set out in independent Six-Facet Survey
- Why did the Trust keep these risks from the public?
- What is the Trust doing to make patients and staff safer?
Below is the link to the Six-Facet Survey report - look at the 'Statutory' page for Watford General Hospital
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HEMEL'S £51 MILLION?
There's mystery over the fate of £51 million earmarked for developing Hemel Hempstead Hospital.
Just two years ago, in May 2022, West Herts NHS Trust agreed plans to spend that amount on Hemel Hospital - and over £1.1bn on the Watford General rebuild.
The Hemel Hospital plans would have seen new diagnostic facilities and a new urgent treatment centre at the Verulam Building.
Now the favoured way forward is a Health Campus which would bring these hospital services together with other NHS facilities in a major rationalisation on the former Market Square. One aim is to help regenerate the town centre.
But 'commercial confidentiality' may block the public from knowing how much might be spent on the new building.
This retreat from openness would be a change of policy on the part of the West Herts Trust, which gave very detailed figures for costs of redevelopments in a Trust Board paper in May 2022. The figures also show that the Trust expected to make £10m from land sales at Hemel Hospital.
Unless these figures are updated, the public will not be able to know which of the various proposals for health and hospital services in Hemel is best.
The May 2022 cost figures are in the screenshot below, which is taken from the published Board papers for that month. 'WGH' is Watford General, 'HHH' is Hemel Hempstead Hospital and 'SACH' is St Albans City Hospital
WATFORD GENERAL PLANS DELAY PROGRESS FOR CANCER CENTRE
Vital work to provide a new building for the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre MVCC) is being held up by wrangling among NHS bureaucrats.
The delay - which could mean cancer patients waiting ten years for much-needed new premises - is being caused by the determination of West Herts Trust to press ahead with rebuilding Watford General.
New analysis by Dacorum Health Action Group explains that:
- Cancer centres, where patients are treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, need to be located next to acute hospitals where facilities like intensive care units are available
- The MVCC buildings at Northwood, Middlesex, are in very poor condition and are far from the necessary acute services, making care difficult for patients and staff
- Watford General has been put forward by the NHS as the site for a new MVCC
- But the NHS is giving priority to the 7-year rebuild of Watford General, with the MVCC move taking second place
- Dacorum Health Action Group (DHAG) is calling on the NHS to explore clear new accessible sites where a new MVCC could be located alongside a new West Hertfordshire A&E hospital
DHAG's new analysis of the MVCC situation is below:
HEMEL'S NEW MP FACES DAUNTING HEALTH IN-TRAY
Congratulations to David Taylor MP.
Hemel Hempstead elected a new MP yesterday as part of the Labour landslide that sees Keir Starmer take over in Downing Street.
David Taylor will have to tackle a wide variety of health and hospital issues. His last leaflet before the election was all about health, so he realises how important it is.
Here are just some of the issues he faces:
- Hemel people don't want Watford General. David must now be aware, from the doorstep and from reports of our public meeting, that people in Hemel don't want Watford General to be rebuilt in a hugely disruptive and unaffordable 7-year project. Will he follow the cross-party tradition of Hemel MPs opposing the Watford rebuild? His majority is under 5000, making it a marginal. He will surely have to take into account the views of his constituents. But in Watford, David's colleague Matt Turmaine has promised people that Watford General will be rebuilt. How will Labour square this circle?
- Financial woes at the West Herts Trust. The West Herts Trust is facing an £18.5m deficit this year - the poorest financial performance in the Herts and West Essex region. Cuts of £27m are being applied - how will David be monitoring the impact of the cuts on patient services? There may be no money for David's idea of a Community Hospital for Hemel.
- Mount Vernon crisis. Vital new premises for the crumbling Mount Vernon Cancer Centre are seemingly being held up by disgraceful NHS dithering. The problem is that a crucial move for MVCC cannot happen until the Watford General rebuild is finished - meaning a ten-year wait for a new MVCC. The obvious solution - a clear joint site for a new West Herts Hospital and a new MVCC - is apparently ruled out by West Herts' obsession with building at Watford. This is a story that reflects very badly on the NHS.
- Trust Board does not reflect Dacorum views. Key decisions on hospitals for the 155000 people of Dacorum are made by the unelected Board of the West Herts Trust, which has NOT ONE independent member from the Borough. David has expressed his concern in the past and should now demand urgent action to correct a situation which is totally unacceptable. How was this ever allowed to happen?
- GP and dental access problems. GP access is hard for everybody now, but some Hemel practices are worse than others. How can the worst learn from the best? Dental deserts are rife all over the country - how can the NHS tackle that problem in Hemel and other parts of West Herts?
WATFORD GENERAL PLANS GET THUMBS DOWN AT HEMEL ELECTION MEETING
A pre-election meeting of more than 150 people in Hemel Hempstead earlier this week saw overwhelming rejection of the plans to rebuild Watford General Hospital.
Many people called on the NHS to look at options for a clear new site with better access than the cramped and crumbling Vicarage Road facility.
Four general election candidates taking part in the meeting, organised by Dacorum Health Action Group at Hemel Methodist Church, also expressed concern about the £1.4bn, 7-year Watford project.
The Labour Party did not provide a representative.
There was widespread support from candidates and the audience for much better hospital services in Hemel Hempstead.
Public feedback after the meeting showed the depth of feeling about our hospitals and the undemocratic way the West Herts Hospitals Trust decides on investment.
Photo credit: Gary Norman
MOUNT VERNON CONSULTATION COULD UPEND WATFORD GENERAL PLANS
There was very bad news for the West Herts Trust recently as the NHS decided to ask the public what should happen to the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC). A public consultation is being planned for later this year.
MVCC is an excellent facility and serves a big population in the south and east.
But it's falling down and urgently needs replacement next to an acute hospital where patients can be supported if they are very ill during cancer treatment.
The NHS want to build a replacement building squeezed in between Watford General and Watford FC, but that would almost certainly mean one of two very poor outcomes. Either:
- Building at the same time as the towering West Herts infirmary is constructed at Watford General, causing even more chaos, contamination, noise and dust for patients in the existing hospital, or
- Waiting to start building until the tower blocks are finished - 2031 is the target but 2032 is more likely.
The second is much more likely. That will mean a decade more of crumbling at MVCC.
Surely the NHS should urgently consider a potentially quicker and certainly better solution - a clear new site for both West Herts new acute hospital AND MVCC.
The Trust will be upset with the consultation as it opens up the possibility of a solution that does not involve their beloved Vicarage Road site.
The New Hospital Campaign will be putting this case when the MVCC consultation starts.