West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is gearing up to submit a planning application for new facilities at Watford General Hospital.

The trust is in line to receive at least £400 million from the government to invest in its hospitals, with the bulk of the money being spent in Watford, with up to 90 per cent of new buildings at the Vicarage Road site.

Despite uncertainty at this time at how much capital funding the trust will receive, the redevelopment team has announced it will be submitting an outline planning application later this spring for the site in Watford, which the trust believes will provide the opportunity of creating a new "state of the art" hospital, replacing its ageing facilities.

A major transformation is proposed in Watford, with the majority of services – including emergency care, theatres and inpatient wards – moving into a new block to the side of the current hospital to replace nearly all the current clinical buildings.

The hospital wants refurbished buildings by 2025, or as soon as is possible to that date, and also has aspirations to invest in St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead hospitals.

Watford Observer:

In summary, Watford General is proposed to be the hub for emergency, specialist and complex care, with planned surgical care and cancer services in St Albans, and planned medical care and long-term conditions in Hemel Hempstead. The trust says urgent care services will be provided at all three sites.

Building work is also underway to create a new multi-storey car park for the hospital on former allotment land.

For the last few weeks, the trust has had a survey out sourcing public opinion on its proposals, with this survey - titled Your Care Your Views closing on March 24.

It has also been carrying out several sessions with the public about its plans.

The trust has also announced a new virtual public exhibition will be up and running from next week, to last for a month.

The exhibition will provide an opportunity to see and comment on the current proposals before they are finalised and the planning application is submitted.

There will also be three virtual Q&A's and presentations led by the redevelopment project team.

Further details about this exhibition and events can be found here.

The Your Care Your Views survey can be completed by midnight on March 24 here.

Various consultation documents and previous public meetings can be found here.