Hertfordshire NHS trust board approves Watford hospital plan

An artist's impression of the proposed new entrance for Watford General Hospital

Plans to redevelop hospitals in Hertfordshire have been approved by an NHS trust.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust wants to rebuild Watford General and refurbish St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead hospitals.

Campaigners have repeatedly called for a new hospital on a new site.

But the trust said ongoing deterioration of its buildings meant it needed "new and improved buildings in the shortest time possible".

There are plans for a large new emergency hospital on land next to Watford General Hospital on Vicarage Road

On Tuesday, board members approved preferred options for a new hospital on land next to Watford General and some new buildings plus refurbishment at Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City.

The board also reconfirmed its 2020 decision which ruled out a new hospital on a non-Watford site.

Deputy chief executive, Helen Brown, said "the speed with which new and improved buildings are needed" was still the "overriding factor".

"We ruled out a new site option previously because it would add delay at best and, at worst, could fail to deliver altogether," she said.

"That reasoning is even more compelling now because our buildings have deteriorated further."

Plans for St Albans City Hospital include the expansion of endoscopy, day surgical and diagnostic facilities

Campaigners have repeatedly called for a new hospital on a new site and in the board papers, Herts Valleys Hospital group said: "It is clear to us that logic, common sense, transparency, and accountability have been cast aside in favour of parochial, partisan, and ill-informed plans which are doomed to fail on a site that is wholly unacceptable."

Trust chairman, Phil Townsend, said it understood that "some dissatisfaction remains".

He said they had to weigh opposition to their plans against "a vast amount of clinical, technical and financial information".

"The question of where to locate emergency hospital services draws such a wide range of views that it is impossible to please everyone," he said.

"Our hope is that in time, people will understand that we are acting in the best interests of patient safety."

He added that the board was "not prepared to prolong the risk posed to patients and staff by working from ageing buildings".

A business case will be submitted to the NHS's New Hospitals Programme and HM Treasury later this year, for a funding decision.

It was hoped construction would start in 2024.

Earlier this year, the trust announced the works were expected to cost more than £1bn.