The NHS trust in charge of Watford General Hospital has been awarded £800,000 to invest in patient safety projects.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust projects at its Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead hospitals set to benefit include buying portable monitoring machines for the maternity unit to measure a baby's heart rate and mother's contractions during labour when the women are mobile.

Also, the establishment of a dedicated simulation unit in the Medical Education Centre to enable clinical staff to receive training on managing critical and adverse events via the use of computer generated mannequins and cameras which will mimic real-life scenarios.

Doctors and nurses are also set to be provided with the latest technology, such as computer tablets, to enable them to have access to test results while at the patient’s bedside.

The successful funding bids came as part of the trust's commitment to the national patient safety campaign ‘Sign up to Safety’, which aims to strengthen safety across the whole NHS.

Dr Mike van der Watt, medical director, said: "We are extremely pleased to have been successful in our bid for funding for these very important patient safety initiatives.

"The money will be spent on projects which will help our staff work more efficiently and safely and thereby bring real benefits to our patients."