Herts & Essex Hospital trust "can cope" with 23,000 new homes
NHS chiefs have said they are prepared to treat growing populations either side of the Hertfordshire and Essex border
Last updated 5th Aug 2023
The “new hospital” in a town where authorities have planned 23,000 new homes “will be ready to grow from day zero”.
NHS chiefs have said they are prepared to treat growing populations either side of the Hertfordshire and Essex border.
The Government has promised Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow a slice of the £20billion New Hospital Programme fund.
NHS trust bosses have said the plan is to “lift and shift” the hospital equipment into a new site – from Fourth Avenue in the town centre to a new M11 junction 7a site to the east of the town.
It will be “open and ready to go” around 2029, they promised.
Michael Meredith, the hospital’s director of strategy, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Yes, the new hospital will be bigger.
“It will be at least 10 per cent bigger.
“There will, of course, be fluctuations in the number of patients over time.
“We will be ready to grow in size on the new site – by 10 per cent from day zero, and 20 per cent in the future.”
To decide how big Harlow hospital’s cash package will be and its future capacity, the NHS trust must hand a business plan to the Government.
Mr Meredith said: “We have built all the developments into the future modelling.
“We have had to make some assumptions on the population growth.”
He added different models of care, such as at-home or virtual treatment, could help “shorten the length of stays” and ease pressure on hospital resources.
“There is wiggle room as populations flex up and down,” Mr Meredith said.
“There are significant benefits to building a brand new hospital.
“We have been given a funding envelope, and we continue to check and challenge the funding we are allocated.”
Harlow is due to grow by around 23,000 homes as part of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town (HGGT) project.
East Harlow, straddling the Harlow and Epping Forest districts boundary, would feature around 3,350 new homes and the proposed new hospital build.
In Water Lane and Latton Priory to the south and west, planners have suggested building 3,150 new homes.
In Gilston, East Herts Council’s development management committee green-lit 10,000 new homes across seven villages earlier in 2023.
During the developers’ successful bid to secure planning permission, the NHS requested between £9.49million and £11.26m for acute care at Harlow’s hospital.
“The funding of hospital and ambulance services is the remit of the NHS hospital trust and the UK Government, and is paid for through taxation by all citizens,” an East Herts Council report, referring to legal advice, set out at the time.
Instead of acute care funding, developers will construct a healthcare hub and lease it back to the NHS at a near-market rate.
In the Borough of Broxbourne, 10 miles from the proposed hospital site, developers have permission for 1,500 homes and a new town centre at Brookfield.
The new hospital site – off the new M11 junction which opened in June 2022 – would be closer to Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford than the existing campus.
Mr Meredith said his team is working “closely” with highways authorities on the project.
“We will be making improvements to the roundabout at M11 junction 7a,” he said.
“We have done some significant traffic modelling.
“In general, the proposed site would improve travel times.”