The West Herts Trust appear to be confused and anxious about involving the public in the decision-making over a new hospital for West Hertfordshire. The arrangements for meetings about a key decision on the ‘preferred option’ for acute redevelopment have descended into farce.

On March 31 the Trust sent out by email their March Blueprint newsletter, which announced that they were taking another look at their 2020 decision to redevelop Watford General Hospital and reject all clear central new sites.

This is what Blueprint said: "At the June meeting our board will also be taking a ‘fresh eyes approach’ to the decision made in October 2020 to rule out a new site option … There will be a discussion to establish if, with the knowledge of what has changed since 2020, the decision to rule out a new site option is still valid. There will be an engagement session to discuss these papers and an opportunity to submit your views (in writing) so that the board can consider them as part of its discussion. The papers will be published in early May."

Blueprint then said that: "We'll be explaining more about our 'fresh eyes' approach at our next redevelopment update session, which will take place on Zoom on 28 April at 12-1pm."

A April 7 email from the Trust didn’t mention the April 28 meeting but explained that on there will be a “Stakeholder update meeting on next board decisions for redevelopment options” on May 10. But there was no mention of any opportunity for public participation in the ‘fresh eyes’ process. Further confusion comes when the link takes you to the meeting not on May 10 but on May 6.

The mystery deepened further when I tried to find March’s Blueprint on the Trust website early on the morning of April 21. The newsletters for January and February 2022 were there, but there was nothing for March. I sent a letter querying this to the Watford Observer (this was published in Friday's newspaper), and, within a few hours, the March Blueprint had mysteriously appeared on the website.

I am sure this late arrival of the March Blueprint was a complete coincidence!

The version of Blueprint now on the website talks about the meeting on April 28, but the link provided takes you to a Zoom meeting on ….May 6.

It looks as if the Trust have had cold feet at the prospect of any public involvement in their ‘fresh eyes’ process. The suppression and then the resurrection of the March Blueprint and the abrupt postponement of the April 28 session suggest organisational muddle and discomfort at the radical idea that anyone outside the unelected Trust board might have some views about the future of our hospitals.

Underlying the Trust’s contortions is the cold fact that, while the Trust may have ‘fresh eyes’, they do not have an open mind. That is clear from the Trust’s recent meeting with the Health Secretary when they told him that they have ‘shovel ready’ plans for their high-rise Watford hospital. The Trust chair said: “We left [the Health Secretary] in no doubt that we are ready to welcome the diggers just as soon as we can!”.

The Trust is an important public body making decisions that will determine the provision of hospital services in West Herts for decades to come. They seem unable to properly organise a few meetings to allow the public to have their say. How can we be confident that the Trust can be trusted to spend over £1 billion of public money on our hospitals?

The Trust having made a clear promise to the public at the end of March to make a fresh and thorough assessment of the option of building on a clear, central site, they cannot now fail to carry it out. It would destroy all trust in the Trust. This is a key test of their integrity – and their competence.

Philip Aylett

Co-ordinator, New Hospital Campaign