NHS Trust launches five-year plan to transform services and facilities

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s (WHTH) five-year plan will aim to build on current services, facilities, and care across the region for more than 600,000 people. 

The Trust’s ambitions include the building of a new hospital at Watford General Hospital, a new elective care hub at St Albans for planned operations, and for Hemel Hempstead to become a focal point for chronic and complex care treatment. 

Redeveloping Watford General Hospital is one of the biggest projects of its kind anywhere in the UK, with building work expected to get underway in 2025. The government confirmed last year the rebuilding would be fully funded.

Along with the huge redevelopment plans, the new strategy emphasises how a similar transformation will also need to take place in how services are delivered to meet the changing needs of local communities. 

Matthew Coats, chief executive of WHTH, said: “At the heart of our strategy are our patients. Everything we plan to do, every ambition and every improvement is designed to make their experience better, their treatment faster and the care they receive to be excellent.”

The five-year strategy was approved by the Trust’s board at a public meeting on Thursday 4 April.