Campaigners for a new west Hertfordshire hospital have shed doubt to whether a cancer centre could integrate well in Watford when Watford General Hospital undergoes redevelopment.

Watford General Hospital has been earmarked as a leading candidate to move Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, which is currently based in Northwood, to an acute hospital site.

While the move is not definitive, public consultations have been ongoing to determine the future of the centre after the current setup was deemed unsuitable and changes were needed for the service.

Watford is seen as a location that would satisfy the five key criteria when assessing a new site – it possesses an on-site critical care unit, offers specialist services, and would not significantly increase travel times for users.

But the New Hospital Campaign Group (NHC), which is fighting for a new hospital to be built on a site central to Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead – instead of redeveloping existing hospitals - believes Mount Vernon would not work if placed at the current Watford General Hospital site.

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While the group acknowledges Mount Vernon would be well suited in West Hertfordshire – making it central to Hertfordshire, North London, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire – the group doubts whether the redevelopment of Watford General will delay or complicate the move of Mount Vernon.

The group also notes that with 5,000 patients using the centre every year, having many people “cramped” to the Watford site could affect the progress of the Watford General Hospital redevelopment programme.

But a spokesperson from the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust previously said delays or difficulties attached to any transfer would be unlikely, even given the construction plans at Watford, due to the different timescales involved.

Edie Glatter of the NHC group said: “It is fantastic news that MVCC might move to West Hertfordshire. There are all sorts of excellent reasons why the vital and highly-rated cancer treatment services provided by Mount Vernon should be located alongside an acute and emergency hospital in the area, which has been shown to offer the best travel times for patients and carers.

“But the site must be the right one. Now it looks as if the NHS wants to rush ahead with refurbishment of Watford General without properly thinking through the implications for Mount Vernon’s cancer services.”

This comes after the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS trust said it was “confident” that services offered at Mount Vernon could be incorporated by Watford General Hospital.

A spokesperson for the trust previously said: “We welcome the news that Mount Vernon cancer services could move to the Watford General Hospital site.

“We understand that proposed changes to the services currently provided at Mount Vernon are likely to be subject to public consultation and that more detailed work will be needed before any move is finalised.

“Our preliminary assessment has shown that the needs of the Mount Vernon cancer services could be accommodated on the Watford General Hospital site where we are planning a major transformation.

“There are enormous clinical benefits of having this specialist, regional service on our redeveloped site and our clinical staff are very supportive of this proposal.”