Further to Helen Brown’s, deputy CEO of WHHT, response to Graham Cartmell’s excellent letter from the previous week.

Helen Brown bizarrely started her letter in last week’s edition with: “This page increasingly features letters against our planned new hospital buildings in Watford” - Ms Brown, given that the trust have recently announced that the estimated costs for their redevelopment plans have hit a jaw-dropping £1.3 billion, I would be very careful pointing the finger at others!

This is the same trust that said in early 2019 that there wasn’t sufficient money available to look at a new site for west Herts’ A&E hospital but despite being guaranteed only £400 million, are driving on with plans for a monstrous £1.1 billion high rise hospital on the very constrained and widely unpopular Vicarage Road site.

I am currently awaiting a full response from the trust to a Freedom of Information request that I served on their redevelopment team asking to see evidence that they have permission from the Department of Health and Social Care to submit options in their outline business case above the previous advised limit of £590 million.

Andrew Love

St Albans resident