Doubts have been cast over plans to redevelop Watford General Hospital after the government ordered trusts to submit projects with squeezed budgets.
Building permit for the £ 590million plan was granted by the Borough Council on Tuesday, but trusts have now reportedly been ordered to send projects costing no more than £ 400million from here Monday.
In a letter viewed by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), they were asked to send the budget option with their preferred choice, and a “step-by-step approach” to the delivery of their preferred option.
The requirement to submit a program capped at £ 400million has raised concerns that hospital trusts will no longer be able to continue with their original plans.
The letter was reportedly sent by the team at the New Hospital Program, which is overseeing the government’s plans for “40 new hospitals.”
The West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust program involved the construction of a new hospital on the current site of Vicarage Road, with most services then housed in three adjacent buildings up to 17 floors.
The Herts Valleys Hospital campaign group, which is calling for a centrally-built hospital instead of rebuilding Watford General, has claimed that “the wheels are well and truly off the bus”.
Spokesman Steve Day said the trust should now “take stock of what is affordable and deliverable as opposed to the previous decision which inappropriately excluded building on clear sites and ignored costs.”
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-30 18:55:21
