Hospital redevelopment plans now estimated to cost around £1billion

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is planning significant and much needed investment after securing a place as a pathfinder in the Government's New Hospital Programme.

The trust has set its sights on rebuilding its main hospital site in Vicarage Road in Watford with permission received last year for three new buildings including a tower of up to 17 storeys.

Senior staff at the trust are currently putting together a business case that it will take to Government in order to secure the investment it needs.

According to a public Zoom meeting arranged by the trust on March 10, its preferred option of rebuilding at Watford, along with investment at its hospitals in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead is projected to cost around £1.1 billion.

Deputy chief executive Helen Brown admitted there is no "guarantee" the trust will receive the funding it needs, adding: "They are big numbers. And nobody underestimates the fact that this is a very significant investment that we are asking the government to make in improving our facilities."

She said the cost of work at Watford General alone is now estimated to be £940 million with inflation, new building standards, digital technology, and demand and capacity of facilities among the reasons why projected costs have gone up.

The new builds would be constructed next to the current hospital site. Credit: BDP/West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

The £1.1 billion being sought is by far and away higher than the £400 and £590 million budgets the Department for Health has indicated could be made available to the trust since it was announced as a pathfinder in 2019.

However at this time, the trust says it hasn't been set an upper limit of how much it can spend but it also does not know how much will be made available.

Explaining how the investment would work, a trust spokesperson said: "The source of funding is likely to be public dividend capital (PDC). PDC is a funding source similar to equity finance but equity provided by central Government.

"After receiving PDC the trust is obliged to pay an annual dividend, as a revenue charge, roughly equivalent to 3.5 per cent of the value of the new assets created. The trust also has to account for additional depreciation of these new assets.

"Our plans – which set out our wish for as much new build as possible – will help us to reduce the proportion of money we spend on maintenance. We will also make savings through efficiencies and we have a strong track record at doing this."

There was hope that new hospital facilities could be in place by 2025 but a delay nationally in the New Hospital Programme means closer to 2030 is more realistic.

The plans at Watford include demolishing the block known as the Princess Michael of Kent building. The trust wants to bring all clinical services under one roof and keep Watford as its main hospital site, including A&E.

Watford General Hospital

The Mount Vernon cancer centre could be relocated to Watford from Northwood while a new multi-storey car park is on course to open this spring.

The trust is also planning around £160 million investment in its smaller hospital sites in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead.

Ms Brown reiterated the trust is not considering building a new hospital on a new site in west Hertfordshire.

Campaigners want to see a new hospital away from Watford because they believe it would make it more accessible to more residents across this part of the county.

She said there was no evidence that a new site would be cheaper but said the decision not go down that route boiled down to "deliverability" rather than "cost".

Prominent new hospital campaigner Sir Mike Penning, the MP for Hemel Hempstead, recently met with Health Secretary Sajid Javid to raise concerns about the trust's decision.

Sir Mike Penning was joined by new hospital campaigners at a meeting with Health Secretary Sajid Javid

Sir Mike said Mr Javid would look into the trust's decision but a spokesperson for the trust told the Times no correspondence has been received as of yet from the Health Secretary.