Dear Mr Taylor

I was very interested to read your comments regarding the possibility that the Health Secretary will scrutinise West Herts Hospital Trust’s decision to exclude the option for a new and more accessible site for west Herts’ new large hospital.

Firstly, I would like to remind you that you are mayor of Watford and not west Herts! St Albans and Hemel Hempstead residents deserve better access to their A&E hospital than they currently endure to get to the steeply sloped and cramped Vicarage Road site. The Vicarage Road hospital also suffers from poor public transport connections, which means many patients and visitors have to use taxis or rely on friends and family. There is also the issue of a Premier League football ground being right next door to the hospital and the difficulties this brings to access the hospital on match days.

You are quoted as saying: “I am appalled by this decision, which ignores the incredibly thorough process that has already been undertaken by independent experts in this area.

“There have already been several investigations into viability and they have all reached the same conclusion - that the quickest and best way to improve health facilities for West Hertfordshire is to invest in new and improved hospital facilities at Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead Hospitals.”

I would like you to name these independent experts and several investigations that you say have been part of this “thorough process” in the trust deciding that redevelopment of the Vicarage Road hospital site is the best use of public finance to deliver a new large hospital for west Herts?

Regarding your quote “quickest and best way to improve health facilities for West Hertfordshire” I would like to remind you that Harlow are likely to have their new hospital on a new health campus before West Herts Hospital Trust have completed any major redevelopment of Watford General Hospital. The Government is committed to delivering the new Harlow health campus!

You go on to say: “Local people have waited a very long time for these vital new facilities. This decision will only slow the process down, yet again, and could threaten this investment entirely.”

I’m not sure what “local people” you are referring to - perhaps they are your Liberal Democrat colleagues? I certainly know that Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats is very supportive of the trust’s plans. The majority of residents in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead want a new location for their main hospital and from reading the comments posted by readers of the Watford Observer, it appears that Watford residents are also excited that there remains a possibility that a new site will be found for their A&E hospital.

Scaremongering that Sajid Javid’s scrutinising the trust’s decision making process will threaten “this investment entirely” is in my opinion childish. Any scrutiny by Sajid Javid will bring transparency to a process that has very much been conducted behind closed doors and without public consultation.

Liberal Democrats and all of west Herts’ politicians should be welcoming Sajid Javid’s intervention, as this is an opportunity to make sure that West Herts Hospital Trust delivers a new and widely accessible ‘state of the art’ hospital that the whole of west Herts will benefit from for generations to come.

Andrew Love

St Albans resident