Is our General Hospital to close or not?

Mike Penning MP responds to Hospital Chief, David Law's letter to Hemel Gazette (Hospital claims are described as 'alarmist', Hemel Hempstead Gazette, June 27).

In the Hemel Hempstead Gazette, June 27 the Chief Executive of our local Hospital Trust accused Mike Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead, of being misleading when he stated in the Commons that the NHS plan to close the General Hospital and asked him for a retraction.

Mike Penning said:

“This is another example of government spin. David Law suggests that I am misleading and alarming people when I claim the government has plans to close our General Hospital and sell off the land it is on. This is based on their plan to maintain in the Town what they describe as a local general hospital. Well perhaps Gazette readers would like to make up their own mind as to whether our real General Hospital is closing or not by looking at the plan of our current hospital facilities. The red crosses show the parts of the hospital that the NHS Trust wants to be decommissioned, demolished and the land disposed of. The fact that they may, if approved by the new PCT, retain the Verulam Wing for outpatients, urgent care centre, intermediate care and diagnostics does not in my mind constitute providing the people of our town with a General Hospital. They say the urgent care centre will be ‘managed by GPs, nurses and other health practitioners’1. As to the accusation of being alarmist, as a father and representative of the residents of Hemel Hempstead I am prepared to admit – I am alarmed by the planned destruction of our General Hospital.”

The local NHS have revealed their plans to sell off the bulk of the Hemel Hempstead Hospital land for £19.3 million to finance the extension of elective surgery at St Albans and to repay debts. As part of the mandatory consultation process Hertfordshire NHS have recently published their full consultation document, “Delivering quality healthcare for Hertfordshire.” Tucked away at the back of the document is reference to a detailed Business Case report 2 in which they reveal their plans to permanently establish elective surgery at St Albans Hospital rather than Hemel Hempstead as was originally set out in their ‘Investing In Your Health’ document. The new consultation asks for views on whether this should be the case or whether they should revert to basing the Surgicentre in Hemel. They have given full details of how they will decommission and then demolish and sell most of the Hemel Hospital site.

Local MP, Mike Penning, who discovered this said:

“In their report they assume that the Surgicentre capital development would be funded through land sale receipts from the Hemel Hempstead site which they estimate at £19.3 million. The plan of the hospital site shows in detail their plans for decommissioning and demolition. The crosses show the areas to go. Hidden away in their documentation is a table setting out their plans to decommission the Jubilee Wing, Main Block, QE block, Private Wards, Windsor Day Hospital, Windsor Wing, HR Portacabin, Estate workshops and the postgraduate centre at Cheere House. They plan to do this by July 2008 and have the cheek to describe it as ‘Hemel Site Consolidation.’ This is not consolidation it is, in my opinion, sheer vandalism and the destruction of our hospital.”