The Government says it is “on track” to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 – and south-west Hertfordshire will get a share of a cash boost worth more than £20billion.
Last month, the Government committed to funding a rebuild at Watford General Hospital as part of its national New Hospital Programme.
But the current plan to “transform” NHS care in the region has been afoot since the Government launched its programme three years ago, in 2020.
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West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust has proposed a £1.27b scheme to refurbish and rebuild parts of the Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City hospitals alongside the larger Watford unit.
If the scheme goes ahead in full, each of the three hospitals would have a “more clearly defined role”, the trust has previously said.
Watford General would support emergency, inpatient and complex care, while patients would head to Hemel Hempstead for planned medical care or St Albans for planned surgery and cancer treatment.
Watford General Hospital was once a workhouse which gradually became a hospital throughout the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
The campus is now made up of a collection of buildings, and only one – the Acute Admission Unit which opened in 2009 – is “operationally acceptable”.
According to planning documents, 91 per cent of the current hospital facilities are not functionally suitable.
“The existing condition of the majority of the hospital buildings is poor and in urgent need of maintenance of renewal, with many buildings coming to the end of their installation lives,” the report notes.
Watford Borough Council approved the plans in principle almost two years ago, in July 2021.
If the approved plan becomes a reality, a new block would be built on land next to the existing buildings.
Many of the old units would be demolished.
The building would house up to 1,000 beds – up from approximately 600 in the current unit.
“The site is urban and a hospital building that is high density is proposed in order to meet the clinical space requirement,” a report sets out.
“The indicative hospital scheme proposes 16 storeys at the highest point.”
The Accident and Emergency and outpatients area would feature at the lower levels, while spaces intended for longer stays would be fitted out towards the top, “where patients and staff will benefit from daylight and views”.
The report adds: “Access to roof gardens that support healing and recovery have informed the locations of clinical departments caring for children and the elderly.”
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