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.