| Welcome to Blueprint | | Welcome to this edition of Blueprint. Since our last issue we have unveiled our new teaching trust brand, hosted three MPs and a mayoral visit at Watford General Hospital, opened our new multi-storey car park, run three engagement sessions and met with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care!
We’d like to start with a thank you for your time if you joined any of our online engagement sessions or have watched them since via YouTube. We have had many compliments about the session on our virtual hospital model. It's good to be leading the way in this new field of medicine (more info is below). | | |
| Our upcoming engagement sessions | See below for our next engagement and information sessions. Please note the change of date for the next stakeholder update session from 10 to 6 May – we have brought this session forward so that it coincides with the publication date of draft papers for the 31 May trust board meeting. These will be published on 6 May to avoid the pre-election period.
- 6 May – 12.30 - 1.30pm
Our next update session will be your chance to hear about the engagement opportunities ahead of the 31 May meeting (find out more in the article below). Use this link to join via Zoom: https://westherts-nhs-net.zoom.us/j/97298997381.
- 26 May – 12 - 1.30pm
Our next session on travel and access where you can hear about progress on our work to improve travel to and between our sites. Please email westherts.redevelopment@nhs.net to register your interest in this session.
| | | A major milestone is approaching | We are fast approaching our June board meeting (31 May), a key milestone in the development of the outline business case. At this meeting, our board will be considering the outcome of the detailed economic appraisal of the shortlist of options agreed in October 2020. They will receive and consider a recommendation on the preferred option for each of our three hospital sites. A ‘fresh eyes’ approachIn the last issue of this newsletter, we told you about the ‘fresh eyes approach’ our board will be taking at its meeting with regards to the decision made in October 2020 not to include a new site in the shortlist of options for the redevelopment of our hospitals. Before considering the outcome of the economic appraisal and preferred option recommendations, the board will receive a paper that reviews the shortlist of options agreed in October 2020. These options were all based on our three existing hospital sites. New site options were ruled out due to the longer delivery timescale and higher risk of delay or complete failure. The discussion on 31 May will focus on whether we should reopen the shortlist to include a new site in the shortlist of options for the redevelopment of our hospitals, given the time that has elapsed and changes to the programme and external environment. The board will only go on to consider the preferred option recommendations if it decides not to re-open the shortlist to include new site options at this stage. We will also publish a draft of the ‘shortlist review’ paper on 6 May. Stakeholder views will be put to the boardFollowing the early May board meeting on 6 May, we will publish papers here detailing the preferred option for the redevelopment of each of our hospital sites. Each option will be based on a detailed economic appraisal. There will then be a period of engagement where stakeholders can consider the options and feed back their views or make representations to the board.
- In mid-May, we will share a link to an online feedback form where you can give your views. The board will be provided with a summary of responses.
- Representatives of community groups will be able to submit questions ahead of the board meeting in the usual way; there will also be an opportunity to submit representations for the board to consider at its June meeting. More information on this will be provided via our website.
Stakeholder information session If you would like to understand more about this process and the information that will be provided to the board, please join us on 6 May at 12.30pm using this Zoom link. This one hour session will provide an opportunity to ask questions about the process. Please note the session will not be an opportunity to provide feedback or share views on our plans but will explain the process by which feedback and views will be considered by the board. A recording of the meeting will be publicised after the event. We would be grateful if any questions about this process were addressed to us at the information session on 6 May. Any questions we receive before then will be answered during the session. | |
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Learn more about innovations in hospital care
Catch up on our latest webinars, where we have explored how hospital care is being delivered in different and innovative ways.
In our session on ‘same day emergency care’, our divisional director of emergency medicine Dr Rachel Hoey talked about how emergency care is evolving and how same day emergency care ensures patients are not admitted to hospital unnecessarily. We also discussed why patients are not always taken to their nearest hospital. You can watch the recording of this session here.
In our session on virtual healthcare, consultant cardiologist Dr Dominique Auger presented on how we are delivering first class, safe, virtual hospital care to patients, in the comfort of their own home. We had great group discussion and important questions from patients and carers. You can watch the recording of this session here.
Our session on hospital design gave a fascinating insight into all the different factors that influence the design of our new build hospital at Watford – from co-locating clinical spaces, to accessibility and the need for relaxing and healing environments. We also looked at sustainability and environmental factors. We were joined by our architects as well as key staff from the redevelopment team to answer your questions. To watch the recording, click here.
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Watch how virtual hospital care is transforming how we treat patients
We're really proud of our pioneering work in virtual hospital care. In the early part of the pandemic, our leading respiratory consultants were quick to implement an out-of-hospital care model for patients with COVID-19. By using existing technology in an innovative way, we created the UK's first COVID 'virtual hospital’. The programme was a great success and we worked with NHS England and other trusts to help roll it out nationally.
Now, we are using this model to help treat more conditions. Watch our video showing the virtual hospital in action here.
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 | | A first look at our new car park | Our new car park will start welcoming visitors from the end of the month, fulfilling a long term goal of the trust to provide modern, accessible and safe parking facilities at Watford General.
The 1,455 space car park will provide 72 disabled bays, almost doubling the current offering, and is equipped with lifts and stairs. With a pedestrian bridge, users will avoid the need to walk up the steep hill in the existing car park. It will significantly improve the parking experience for staff, patients and visitors.
To celebrate completion of the car park we held a topping-out ceremony, attended by Watford's elected mayor Peter Taylor and key people behind the project.
You can watch our new animation of the car park here, or find our leaflet about it here. | | |
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Flying the flag for ‘teaching hospital’ status
This month, we launched our new name, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. We celebrated across all our sites, proudly flying flags with our new title at Hemel Hempstead, St Albans City and Watford General hospitals and at Jackett's Field - our outpatient therapy unit.
Gaining ‘teaching hospital’ status demonstrates how much importance we place on the development of our workforce by providing training, learning and education opportunities. We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved and excited about what this means for our future.
To find out more, listen to this podcast created by director of medical education Dr Ashley Reece. He discusses what ‘teaching hospital’ means for our communities, our hospitals and of course, our patients.
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It’s got the need, the speed and is clinically agreed!
Chairman Phil Townsend, deputy chief executive Helen Brown and Watford MP Dean Russell were made welcome at Westminster this month when they met with Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid. They discussed plans for our new and better hospital buildings.
Phil Townsend said: “We were very grateful for the opportunity to present our ‘shovel-ready’ plans for our three hospitals. It was good to explain how our proposal addresses the urgent need to provide new and better buildings.
“With outline planning permission in place, plans for services across our sites worked through and our multi-storey car park finished on time and on budget, it was easy for the Secretary of State to see how quickly we could move onto the construction phase at Watford.
“We left him in no doubt that we are ready to welcome the diggers just as soon as we can!”
Read the full story here.
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| A message from our chairman on leadership changes | We send our warmest congratulations to deputy chief executive Helen Brown on her appointment as CEO at Whittington Health NHS Trust. Her contribution to the redevelopment programme (and so much more) has been invaluable. Clare Parker, our very experienced director of strategy and integration will cover Helen’s role on an interim basis.
We are also saying farewell to our acute redevelopment director Duane Passman, whose two year contract comes to an end in June. It has been great to have his considerable NHS construction know-how at our disposal during this pivotal period. In this time he has played a key role in getting our outline business case preparation in such good shape.
Additional expertise at various points of this ambitious programme is very valuable and complements the considerable skills and experience (amounting to many decades) that we have in-house.
The drive to deliver new and better buildings in the shortest time possible and the breadth and depth of the team taking this programme forward mean that our plans remain on track, despite these changes.
Our incoming CEO, Matthew Coats, who joins us in July, came to his interview with an impressive amount of knowledge on our redevelopment plans. He and I have regular catch-up sessions and I am pleased to tell you that he is getting fully up to speed on this complex issue so that he can hit the ground running.
Matthew brings a wealth of experience; 15 years or so spent in hospital management and then at the Department of Health, followed by a similar length of time in some very senior government roles. We are extremely fortunate that his attachment to the values and mission of the NHS have brought him to our door! | | | Don’t miss it – travel and access! | If you have an interest in travel and access to and between our hospital sites, make sure you join us at our next travel and access group meeting on 26 May, 12 - 1.30pm. To register your interest, email westherts.redevelopment@nhs.net and we will send you an invitation to the meeting.
We know this is a topic that is important to many of our patients and stakeholders, so please do come along and share your views. You can recap on what was discussed in the last session here. | | | Catch up with redevelopment news | Blueprint - You can read past editions of the Blueprint newsletter on our website under ‘newsletters’. Share the news and get your colleagues and friends to subscribe by emailing westherts.redevelopment@nhs.net
A-Z information sheet - This document addresses frequently asked questions and the main themes from our engagement and redevelopment programme. It will be updated regularly and we will provide details of where information has been added or amended. | |
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