Your Care, Your Views
Posted: 18 February 2021
West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust has launched a public engagement programme today (called Your Care, Your Views) to gather feedback on plans to redesign its services.
The proposals for new ways to provide care are being developed alongside rebuild and refurbishment plans for the three hospitals the trust manages; Hemel Hempstead Hospital, St Albans City Hospital and Watford General Hospital.
The trust is currently at the outline business case stage of a major bid to the government for funding to transform Watford General Hospital (with up to 90% new buildings) and to redevelop and refurbish its hospitals in Hemel Hempstead and St Albans.
In advance of building works, the trust has reviewed the way services are currently provided and is looking to make a range of improvements. These will include a higher proportion of single rooms, more ‘one stop’ clinics (where diagnostic procedures, treatment and consultation all take place within the same appointment) and more online appointments.
The starting point of the proposals is for each of the hospitals to have a more clearly defined role. Emergency, inpatient and complex care will remain at Watford; Hemel Hempstead Hospital will be the centre for planned medical care and long term conditions and St Albans City Hospital will be the centre for planned surgery and cancer care. Urgent care services and some outpatient services will be provided at all three sites.
Diagnostic facilities will be significantly upgraded at all three hospitals and the latest digital technology will be incorporated. The trust is launching a new electronic patient record later year.
Chief Medical Officer Mike van der Watt said: “Creating a unique role for
each site and making sure it has the right staff and facilities to provide an
excellent standard of care is the backbone of our plans.”
He added: “I want to thank our busy clinicians for making the time to develop the proposals we are making public today. Despite the pressures, we have had great engagement and it’s clear how committed our staff are to making our services the best they can be. We have reviewed the latest best practice from this country and abroad and have used that as well as national policy and our own ideas to create a vastly improved way of delivering patient care.
“I am excited by our plans which are about so much more than buildings and beds. The quality and safety of our services and the clinical outcomes we want for our patients have been our guiding force.”
The trust is issuing a survey to find out what people think of its ideas and has offered to make presentations to local community groups. There is also a series of online events. Further information is on the trust’s website
FURTHER INFORMATION
- For more information, please contact the communications team on: 01923 436280 or email: wherts-tr.communications@nhs.net. For out of hours media enquiries please call the Watford General Hospital switchboard on 01923 244366 and ask for the on call communications manager.
- West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three hospitals; Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead. The trust has a catchment area of over 500,000 people and is one of the largest employers locally, with around 5,000 staff and volunteers.
- For more information about our hospitals, visit www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk. You can also join our followers on Twitter (twitter.com/westhertsNHS) and find us on Facebook (facebook.com/westhertsNHS).
