Watford General Hospital

History

Watford General was formed at the foundation of the National Health Service utilising buildings which were formerly the Watford workhouse and, from 1929, Shrodells Public Assistance Institution. The facility also incorporated the Peace Memorial Wing from 1965 when management of the Peace Memorial Hospital was transferred to the Shrodells site. The Peace Hospice is situated on the former Peace Memorial site. The Princess Michael of Kent Wing at the Shrodells site was opened by Princess Michael of Kent in 1986 and an acute admissions unit was opened by Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Health, in February 2010.

The hospital manages beyond its safe capacity with A&E having been designed for around 30,000 attendances per year but receiving over 88,000. The hospital was designated "inadequate" in its 2015 CQC inspection, but was upgraded to "requires improvement" in January 2018.

Outline planning permission to redevelop the hospital and create the Watford Health Campus was granted in 2008. Section 106 agreements which will provide £3 million for infrastructure around the Vicarage Road site, including education and transport, were signed on 26 March 2010. In August 2012 Kier Property was selected to carry out the development programme. It will take 1520 years to complete.

Facilities

A new road has been built to improve linking the hospital to the town centre and the M1. Given the name, Thomas Sawyer Way, it is the main access for the hospital.

The hospital is well-served by Watford buses running between the town centre and Rickmansworth.

References

References

1. "West Herts Hospitals".
2. Higginbotham, Peter. "The Workhouse".
3. "Details: Watford General Hospital (Peace Memorial Wing), Watford". Hospital Records Database.
4. "Peace Memorial Hospital". Imperial War Museum.
5. "Our history". Peace Hospice.
6. "Watford General Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London.
7. "Princess Michael of Kent wing". Watford History Group.
8. "CQC Report January 2018".
9. (26 March 2010). "Watford Health Campus closer to reality". Watford Observer.
10. (30 August 2012). "Kier Property is to draw up plans for new hospital and hundreds of homes". Watford Observer.
11. (23 July 2015). "First spade hits the ground for the Watford Health Campus road".
12. (3 February 2012). "New hospital road funding hailed as critical stride to Health Campus". Watford Observer.
13. "New hospital Road map". West Herts Hospitals.
14. "Change to hospital access as Thomas Sawyer Way opens". West Herts Hospitals.
15. (2 September 2012). "Watford - Our Services".