Watford Health Campus : a new vision for West Herts Acute Hospital and the local community

FAQ's

Frequently asked questions about the project:

What is a Health Campus?

All of these grand plans look very admirable, but how long will it be before we see some significant changes in the Cardiff Road area?

What impact will it have on the other hospitals in West Herts?

It looks as though the Health Campus proposals will reduce available Green Space. Is this the case and what is the Masterplan team doing to protect open space?

The two biggest issues I face when I drive to Watford Hospital are the traffic and parking at the site. Has the masterplanning team recognised these issues and what measures are you taking in relation to transport, access and parking?

I am very impressed by the scope of the project you have outlined. How much is all this going to cost?

What will all this development mean for jobs and training in the area?

What is a Health Campus?

We see a Health Campus as a place where health, leisure, recreation, education, entertainment and business work together to create a vibrant and sustainable community asset.

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All of these grand plans look very admirable, but how long will it be before we see some significant changes in the Cardiff Road area?

The Campus proposals see a lengthy construction programme with various parts of the overall development being completed at different points in time. For example, the social housing for hospital around the football club's south stand is expected to complete in late 2008 or early 2009, while the hospital itself will not be finished until around 2014.
The housing on the existing hospital site will not be started until after the new hospital is open, so that development will be completed around 2016

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What impact will it have on the other hospitals in West Herts?

The new hospital proposed in the Health Campus provides a new centralised hospital providing the very high-tech end of hospital care. The challenges of providing staff to provide this intensive and highly expensive care along with the need to have the high-tech equipment available 24 hours a day 7 days a week, even if equipment has occasional breakdowns, means that this type of care needs to be provided in a single location for West Hertfordshire.
The other hospitals in West Herts (Hemel Hempstead and St Albans) will provide a vital role in managing the health of the west Herts community by continuing to provide the vast majority of the outpatient and diagnostic services currently provided.
In addition Hemel Hempstead hospital will have an Urgent Care centre which will be open 24 hours per day 365 days/ year.
St Albans will continue to provide its Minor Injuries Unit service. It is still planned for the Hemel site to conduct the majority of planned operations in a new SurgiCentre to be provided by the independent sector, although it is proposed that in the short-term this service will centralise to the St Albans site. As can be seen the other sites in west Herts will continue to play a vital role in providing health care to the Trust's catchment population

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It looks as though the Health Campus proposals will reduce available Green Space. Is this the case and what is the Masterplan team doing to protect open space?

Retaining where possible then improving existing open space is a priority for the project team. The development proposed including the new access very probably would erode some of the existing publicly accessible green space within the total site area. However much of the site is currently inaccessible, especially the water's edge along the River Colne and the Power Station Loop. A substantial strip of land along this bank will be made accessible to the public with a foot path/cycle way running along it.

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The two biggest issues I face when I drive to Watford Hospital are the traffic and parking at the site. Has the masterplanning team recognised these issues and what measures are you taking in relation to transport, access and parking?

West Watford does suffer from congestion and we recognise that this is a major development. The new West Herts Acute Hospital will serve the needs of people in West Hertfordshire and beyond. It will be critical that people wanting to access the hospital can do so. Improving public transport will therefore be an important element in achieving this. We believe that the proposed Health Campus makes the already very strong argument in favour of reopening the Croxley Link Line and connecting it to the Tube at Croxley much stronger. This will be supported by improved bus services to and hopefully through the site, as well ensuring that the site is integrated in to the local cycle and footpath networks.

Additionally, and this will be subject to detailed examination we believe that a new road following the line of the railway embankment can be built, with minimal loss of public open space, to link Wiggenhall Road with Dalton Way.
By using modern smart technology, parking can be managed to enable people using the site to park in areas that are close to their destination. Similarly, as demand.

For the various services is spread both during the day and over the week, there is scope to match demand and availability. One outcome will be to increase the amount and the quality of housing on the Health Campus available for staff, which will help reduce the number of car journeys.

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I am very impressed by the scope of the project you have outlined. How much is all this going to cost?

No detailed estimates of the cost of the whole scheme have been made, the funding application made by the Strategic Health Authority for the acute hospital services only gives an indication of what the acute services costs are likely to be. However the acute services is one of a range of funding streams that the Health Campus can use, other applications will need to be made for the mental health services and the new primary care (GP services) elements. Additionally there is considerable scope to attract private sector investment in some features such as the commercial and research development and new homes.

The overall cost is likely to run into the hundreds of millions.

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What will all this development mean for jobs and training in the area?

The Council and EEDA are concerned to ensure that the health campus creates new opportunities for jobs and associated skills training in Watford. These jobs will be at all skill levels and be in a wide variety of occupations or trades. The jobs created need to be accessible by local people and there is a commitment to ensuring is practical, relevant and accessible support is available to help local people compete for and retain those jobs.
The development phase alone will create significant opportunities for new jobs in construction. New business space will, with targeted support, encourage new businesses to start and existing ones to grow.

The hospital will require significant numbers of staff over and above those currently employed at the site. Many of these jobs will be flexible in terms of hours worked and will be wide ranging in terms of the skills and experience required.

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