Opinion: Hemel must see the healthcare plan before the housing plan

Campaigners have raised serious concerns over proposals that could allow up to 639 homes to be built on the Hemel Hempstead Hospital site.

The NHS is exploring moving outpatient, diagnostic and urgent care services to a proposed health campus at Market Square. However, residents deserve to know precisely what will be provided, at what capacity and when.

Naomi Whiteley, Behaviour Transformation and Pressure Specialist, said: “At a time when the NHS repeatedly warns that services are under immense pressure, it is reasonable to question why valuable healthcare land could be released for hundreds of homes before every replacement service has been clearly guaranteed.

“New housing also means new patients. Hemel cannot be left with fewer or less accessible local services while its population and demand for care continue to grow.

“Uncertainty creates pressure of its own. Older residents, people with long-term conditions, disabled people and carers should not be expected to rely on general assurances. They need to know where they will receive treatment, how they will get there, whether sufficient beds and appointments will be available and when the replacement facilities will open.

“Housing is needed, but a hospital site cannot simply be viewed as convenient development land. Before any existing facility is sold or demolished, equal or better healthcare provision must be funded, built and fully operational.

“The healthcare plan must come before the housing plan—not after it.”