The Hertfordshire Health Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the Hemel Hempstead Health Campus development and to review the committee's work programme for 2025-26. The committee agreed to recommendations regarding the Hemel Hempstead Health Campus, and approved the scrutiny work programme for 2025-26 with amendments and additions.

Hemel Hempstead Health Campus Development

The committee discussed the proposed redevelopment of health facilities in Hemel Hempstead, focusing on the development of a new health campus. Sheena Phillips, Hemel Health Campus Programme Director, and Toby Hyde, Chief Strategy and Co-Collaboration Officer of West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, presented the plans and answered questions from the committee.

The new health facility aims to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in the Dacorum area and beyond, with a focus on outpatient, diagnostic, and other care services. The six aims of the health campus are to:

• Provide effective, modern care from fit-for-purpose and flexible facilities
• Use new facilities as a catalyst to redesign local health and care services
• Shift the focus of delivery to early help and prevention, with a particular emphasis on reducing health inequalities and ageing well
• Deliver care closer to home, including through multi-disciplinary teams
• Coordinate the provision of urgent care services
• Continuously evaluate and refine the model

The committee considered a strategic outline case (SOC) that examined several options for developing a future health facility in Hemel Hempstead. The five options proposed for inclusion in the SOC were:

1. BAU (Comparator option): Investment restricted to high and significant backlog maintenance risks, and continuation of existing services in Hemel Hempstead Hospital.
2. Do Minimum: Investment to clear all backlog maintenance and deliver essential service development, and continuation of existing services in Hemel Hempstead Hospital.
3. Refurbishment and minor build at Hemel Hempstead Hospital: Consolidate existing planned medical services across the Hemel Hempstead Hospital estate into the Verulam Wing.
4. New build on Market Square site: New build on Market Square, disposal of existing Hemel Hospital buildings and release of Land.
5. Market Square and Refurbishment of Verulam: New Build on Market Square with Verulam retained for services that are replaced in other options, such as a mortuary.

The preferred option is for a new build on the Market Square site.

Concerns raised

• Car parking: Councillors expressed concerns about the lack of car parking at the proposed Market Square site. Councillor Dee Hart said:

But my concerns are a lack of car parking. I think we need to take that on board and we've got to make sure there's good public transport links as well. I think that's very important.

She also said that residents' views should be "first and foremost" in any plans.

• Digital inclusion: Councillor Gordon Nicholson raised concerns about digital inclusion, stating that a great proportion of people are not online and that there should be parallel access for those who do not have digital access.
• Size of the Market Square site: Councillor Miriam Swainston said that the Market Square site looked too small to accommodate all the intended services. Councillor Colette Wyatt-Lowe echoed this concern, stating that the site is a finite space and that there is no room for expansion.
• Funding: Councillor Wyatt-Lowe expressed concern about how the scheme will be funded, given the delays to the new Watford General Hospital build.
• Community support: Councillor Wyatt-Lowe noted that at a recent meeting at the South Hill Centre, the vast majority of residents were not in favour of the proposed Market Square site.
• Disruption: Councillors noted that moving services from Hemel Hempstead Hospital to other sites could disrupt services for patients. Councillor Alistair Gordon said:

You're moving them away from their support. It's great to see that this facility is looking to be a local facility. How local is local? How big a community are you seeking to serve with this facility?

Responses

• Sheena Phillips and Toby Hyde responded to the councillors' concerns, stating that they are working closely with Dacorum Borough Council to undertake the modelling required to ensure that adequate car parking is built into any future proposals.
• They also stated that they recognise the importance of digital inclusion and that they are working to ensure that patients without digital access are not excluded.
• They said that they have done a lot of detailed work on the proposed Market Square location and are confident that it will be able to accommodate a facility in excess of 8,000 square metres.
• They noted that the government has committed to identifying a source of capital for neighbourhood health centres and that they are hopeful that this project fits all of the criteria to be able to access that capital.
• They also stated that they are working to ensure that the transition to the new facility is as smooth as possible for patients.
• Toby Hyde said that there was absolutely not a competitive exercise between facilities in Hamel-Hamstead and Watford General Hospital . He said that if all of the aspirations for Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Watford General Hospital are delivered, the geography will be the single biggest beneficiary of capital investment in the NHS anywhere in the country.

Recommendations

The committee agreed to use the report to raise questions regarding the redevelopment of proposals for a new health facility for Hemel Hempstead and engagement activity supporting the strategic outline case.

Andrew Stevenson, Head of Scrutiny, offered to provide further detail on the data around phlebotomy services, and to invite Sheena Phillips and Toby Hyde back at the conclusion of the calendar year to talk about the review of community beds and rehab beds.

Health Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2025-26

The committee reviewed and approved the work programme for 2025-26, with amendments and additions. Tim Parlow, Head of Scrutiny, presented the report and outlined the themes for upcoming meetings.

The committee agreed to add the following items to the work programme:

• How the NHS 10-year plan relates to the scrutiny work being done by the committee.
• Alcohol support services across the county.
• Obesity and the impact of new drugs, such as Exempic and Manjaro.
• Health inequalities, particularly for those from backgrounds of learning disabilities or the global majority.
• Ambulance services.
• The performance of Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust.

Councillor Chris Lloyd noted that at the last full council, there was a long report on a health report, which he thought was very positive.