Exploring new hospital sites – the NHS sets out the to-do list

West Herts NHS Trust explained how, in 18 months or less, a new site  could become the ‘preferred option’ for the area’s emergency care hospital.

The work towards a new preferred option, set out in a paper for the Trust Board in May 2022, would include:

  •  an updated site search to identify suitable potential sites
  • an appraisal of these sites to identify any viable options / a shortlist of
    potential sites
  • more detailed appraisal of the shortlist to identify one or more preferred
    options
  • initial review of site infrastructure requirements
  • preliminary commercial negotiations
  • exploratory discussions with relevant planning authorities
  • detailed feasibility studies and 1:500 designs for the identified site/s to produce robust and comparable capital costs for the shortlist appraisal
  • The paper  says ‘Once all the above had been completed the detailed option appraisal could be updated and a new preferred option recommendation ascertained. It is anticipated that it would take c.12 to 18 months to complete the above work and cost in excess of £2m.’ 
  • There would then be more detailed work on the new preferred option, including getting planning permission. That could take between 9 and 18 months.
  • Even if this preliminary work on a new option took the maximum time calculated by the Trust, the project would be well on the way by 2028.
  • The Watford General project does not have full planning permission and no final design has been determined

The papers are here – see Tab 5.2 – shortlist review   May_2022_board_papers2