Across West Herts Hospitals Trust, 1,131 people waited 52 weeks or more for treatment as of December 2020. Back in March 2020, just three waited a year or more.
Published:
3:57 PM January 6, 2021
Updated:
4:11 PM January 6, 2021
The work across Watford General (pictured) as well as Hemel Hempstead General and St Albans City, has been heavily scrutinised by campaign groups
- Credit: Danny Loo
A high court judge has dismissed claims that Herts Valleys CCG was unlawful in its decision-making process around the redevelopment of hospital buildings in west Herts.
In 2019, a judicial review claim was submitted on behalf of a group of campaigners, alleging that decisions the CCG made in that year to agree a shortlist of sites - and then the preferred option - for the redevelopment of hospital buildings in west Herts were unlawful on the basis of lack of formal public consultation.
And committee chair Cllr Seamus Quilty stressed that the plans were in their ‘infancy’.
“This is just at the start – its a marathon that is going to go on here.” he said. “It’s going to be a long long time before there is any real decision made.”
During the meeting, Labour county councillor Margaret Eames-Petersen questioned the way travel times had been assessed – pointing to the journeys undertaken by patients from the north and east of the county.
But Ms Kinghorn said that it had been “a massive balancing act” and that moving services to the Lister Hospital would have increased travel times from other areas by “extraordinary amounts”.
Watford General Hospital
- Credit: Danny Loo
A new independent report has concluded that proposed developments to the regions hospitals may take longer than building a new hospital on a fresh site.
The report, which was published on Monday, December 14, aims criticism at the plans of the West Herts Hospitals Trust (WHHT) for the future of the area’s hospitals, which include Watford General on Vicarage Road, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead.
Planning consultant Mike Naxton, who drew up the report, disagrees with the plans currently favoured by the Trust – which predominantly involve building and demolishing parts of existing hospitals rather than starting anew.