I'VE just completed a survey about the future of hospitals in west Hertfordshire. It posed some tough questions and sets out facts which made me think about the various options and what’s best for our part of the county.

I also read the note that accompanied the survey and it’s become obvious to me that a completely new hospital in Watford is both realistic and practical, benefitting patients, staff and the wider community, throughout west Hertfordshire, for many years to come.

For instance, I know how much difference the new road has made – that’s one point in favour of redeveloping Watford General. As is the size of the site – once all the cars are using a multi-storey, there’ll be a lot of extra land. And if the council comes good with its offer of a ‘land swap’, then there is even more space.

And as a local, I know Watford General is the vibrant hub of hospital care in our part of the county but, quite frankly, the existing buildings do no justice to patients or staff – staff who always see all of us, you and me, throughout life: the joy of being new parents, the relief of recovery and the dignity we all need at the end of our lives.

Many of the staff who look after us are local and I think we should listen to them and I’d be interested to see how they respond to the survey.

My own work life as a filmmaker, focusing on the community, also shows me that for hospitals to fully engage with the community the hospital has to be at the heart of the community, not off a motorway junction somewhere. A rebuilt Watford General would remain accessible to people who don't drive (a fair proportion, I suspect) including staff. A new hospital on a new and, for many, difficult to access site, away from anyone, couldn't fill such an active role in the community it serves.

So my support is behind redeveloping Watford General, and I hope the Government will make the funds available so at least 90 per cent of the hospital gets redeveloped and St Albans and Hemel Hempstead get the required investment too – this is all about the best use of taxpayers’ money and NHS resources.

Yes, we want and need something better than we’ve got but let’s see it (re)built right here, in Watford.

Ian Port

Abbots Langley

...CHRISTINE Allen, CEO of the West Herts Hospitals Trust (WHHT), in her letter published in the Observer asked for survey responses to the Trust’s redevelopment proposal. But what are these proposals, when would they be delivered and how?

From their questionnaire and the site study, carried out by a wholly owned offshoot of the Royal Free, with whom the Trust have an established collaboration arrangement, we can gather that WHHT’s aim is to ‘provide all of its key emergency and specialist clinical services from brand new, 21st century hospital facilities’. Also, that the new facilities would be mainly sited on the existing hospital site and about one third on Riverwell land.

Beyond that we know very little. What does the Trust regard as its key services and what exactly would be retained in use - both buildings and the failing infrastructures? What would be the basic layout of the buildings and the solutions to allow reasonably level access to the entrances with the steep gradient? Given the site location, it is pretty obvious that some existing buildings will need to be demolished and construction would be carried out close to the main PMoK block, so what are the plans to make the internal environment in this poor, naturally ventilated building safe for patients beforehand?

The Trust has made it clear that meeting the HIP1 2025 timeframe is the overriding criteria for options to be placed on the shortlist, but the ‘independent’ consultant's most optimistic ‘at risk’ programme shows ‘substantial completion’ of the main building beyond this and implies that remaining works would take significantly longer. Separately, the Trust has provided estimates that show redevelopment would cost 30 per cent more than building a new hospital on a clear, central site.

So in response to your letter, Christine, please explain how the Trust’s redevelopment proposals would work and why they would provide the best benefits. Detailed designs and methodology are not expected at this stage but concept layouts and outline implementation proposals would provide the public with a much clearer and more valid basis to make a judgment. What we have seen so far is nowhere near enough for the Trust to base such a far-reaching decision on.

Robert Scott

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building

Gravelhill Terrace, Boxmoor