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’):

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