Put hospital nearer Hemel Hempstead, campaigners say after government funding pledge

Campaigners have warned a tower block hospital taller than Grenfell Tower in the middle of Watford will not solve West Herts’ health needs.

Leaders of the not-for-profit West Herts 21 Century Hospital Solution have said they welcome the government’s funding pledge for a new hospital in the Hertfordshire town.

But they added the campaign for a new hospital closer to Hemel Hempstead and St Albans is not over.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has promised to “fully” fund a rebuild or refurbishment of Watford General Hospital as part of its £20billion New Hospital Programme.

The new unit at Watford will be built according to a standardised Hospital 2.0 – which could save money and speed up construction.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has planning permission for three hospital rebuilds – at the Watford General, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City hospitals.

According to Trust papers, this project comes with a £1.27b price tag – part of a business case which the Government has not yet signed off.

The not-for-profit leaders wrote in a statement: “West Herts 21 Century Hospital Solution welcomes the announcement that a new hospital for West Hertfordshire will be fully funded.

“The recent Government announcement made it clear, however, that the new hospital must be designed and built in a modular, standardised way.

“This 21st-century efficient approach would result in a reduction in both costs and time of up to 25 per cent compared with previous major NHS schemes.”

The statement continued: “Constructing a hospital 20 metres taller than Grenfell Tower, on the sloping car park immediately adjacent to the busy operating hospital, will make it impossible to deliver to the required 21st-century efficiency criteria.”

It adds: “The new leader of Dacorum Borough Council, Councillor Ron Tindall, states that he would like to reduce health inequalities for the people of Dacorum.

“He should therefore not accept the current proposal from our local NHS trust, whereby our only future A&E and maternity hospital will be located on the far side of Watford, next to the football ground, with the endoscopy unit – currently at Hemel Hempstead – being transferred out to St Albans.”

Cllr Ron Tindall: ‘We’re beyond eleventh hour’

Liberal Democrat leader of Dacorum Borough Council Cllr Ron Tindall (Adeyfield West), who took on the role after the May elections, suggested his authority is out of time to push for another solution.

“In my opinion, we’re still in the land of smoke and mirrors,” he said.

“I want the best for Dacorum and we will do whatever we can to achieve that, but there are very few options open to us.

“The previous administration made its case to West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, but the Conservatives failed in successfully making the case for a hospital closer to Hemel Hempstead.

“The planning process has been completed – although we are all still waiting to find out what we’re going to get.

“We’re not just at the eleventh hour on this – we’re at one minute past midnight.”

Sir Mike Penning MP: ‘The battle has now been lost’

When the DHSC made its funding announcement, Hemel Hempstead’s Conservative MP Sir Mike Penning said: “We are understandably disappointed that it will be on the existing Watford site when it is so obvious that a new site, equally accessible from Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Watford would have been the more sensible option, but I concede that that battle has now been lost.”

He added: “It is right, though, to welcome this news.

“Watford General has deteriorated to such an extent that a completely new hospital is much needed and I know that staff and patients alike will be pleased with this news.”

Watford Borough Council’s Labour Group leader Nigel Bell (Holywell) said at the time: “We have been waiting years and years for this. We heard original plans towards the end of the Labour government, and have been calling for the rebuild to start right through the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss premierships.

“We are still a long way from anything being built.

“We need more detail about the plans, when the unit will be completed, and when it will open.”

Directly elected Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor opposed the Hospital 2.0 approach.

He said: “I am very pleased to hear the government make this long overdue announcement today.

“Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go and if the past is anything to go by, progress will be slow.

“I am disappointed that the government are still talking about standardising construction methods and imposing a one size fits all approach to building the new hospitals.

“We need a hospital in Watford that meets the needs of local patients now and in the future.

“Residents and our incredibly hardworking NHS staff deserve nothing less.”

Standardised approach will ‘facilitate more efficient estate operation’

Defending the Hospital 2.0 approach, a Government spokesperson said: “Our national approach to standardisation includes facilitating more efficient estate operation, be digitally designed to improve staff and patient experiences by utilising the latest technologies and be designed with clinical staff to ensure the plans meet their needs and support their wellbeing.”

They added: “As with all new hospital schemes, funding is only finalised once the final business case is reviewed and agreed.

“These designs will support the NHS workforce and patients for emerging challenges building on current experiences to ensure we meet the needs of the future.”

The New Hospital Programme has already supported the new multi-storey car park at Watford General, and has approved the “reconfiguration of pathology works” across the three sites.

A local NHS Trust spokesperson said: “The announcement by the Secretary of State for the DHSC on May 25 was excellent news.

“Confirmation that our proposal to build a new, fully funded district general hospital at our Watford site means that we can now press forward and create the much-needed state-of-the-art, clinically led, digitally driven hospital for the population of West Herts.”