The A&E department in Hemel Hempstead will close today in a fundamental shift in the role of the hospital.
An urgent care centre (UCC) - staffed by GPs and highly-trained nurses - will take over emergency treatment in the town. (Wednesday, March 11)
The UCC will be open 24/7 and is expected to deal with 65 per cent of patients who would normally go to
A&E.
People with serious illness or injuries will be transferred to the full casualty department in Watford.
In blue-light emergencies ambulance staff will decide whether to take patients to the UCC or A&E.
Health chiefs say it is safe to take children to the UCC, though if their condition is serious they should be taken to A&E.
The move comes despite fierce resistance to the loss of acute services from Hemel Hempstead, including a long campaign with countless petitions and pleas to government.
After A&E transfers to Watford the process of mothballing five key buildings on the Hemel Hempstead site is due to begin.
The services remaining in the town will be concentrated in the Verulam and Jubilee wings and the Queen Elizabeth block.
The town will be left with the urgent care centre, the out-of-hours GP service, an outpatients department and diagnostic facilities.
A health centre offering drop-in GP services is expected to open in June.
