The phrase 'shovel ready' was used not once but twice in discussions over plans to rebuild Watford General Hospital in the past week.

The first time was in the context of a meeting between West Herts Hospitals Teaching Hospitals Trust chairman, Watford MP Dean Russell and Health Secretary Sajid Javid. Readers will remember the recent meeting between campaigners for a new hospital and Mr Javid a few weeks ago.

Read more: Health Secretary learns about 'shovel-ready' £1bn hospital redevelopment plans

Read more: Boris Johnson asked about Watford hospital rebuild in Parliament

The second time came in a question asked by Watford MP Dean Russell at Prime Minister's Questions.

Mr Russell said he was "delighted" to be given the chance to ask a question. It is worth noting that Mr Russell has still not responded to our request for his thoughts on the partygate affair, and no doubt Mr Johnson was delighted at being given such an easy question to answer.

Read more: ‘HouDeani’: Watford MP Dean Russell's partygate vanishing act

Nonetheless the Prime Minister's answer ­— "There will be a new hospital in his local area and it’s part of our plan to deliver 48 new hospitals in this country by 2030" ­— may not offer much comfort.

It could be seen as applying to both plans to rebuild the hospital and plans for a totally new hospital, and Watford's mayor picked up on this, asking for commitment to the plans approved by the trust.

We should be careful of drawing parallels between domestic and government finance, but would you describe your plans for a big extension as 'shovel ready' before you had full planning permission and knew how much you could borrow from the bank?

And given the vagueness of the Prime Minister's reply it does not seem at all clear exactly what Watford might get.