Sir Mike Penning MP backs ‘Beware the Hard Sell’ campaign

Sir Mike Penning, Member of Parliament for Hemel Hempstead, is calling on local people to beware of the tactics of the West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust in their latest ‘public engagement’ campaign.

He said: ‘I am fully behind the New Hospital Campaign on this. The Trust is pushing the hard sell, trying to make us believe they are investing in all three local hospitals. They are not, 92% of funding will go to a renovation of Watford with just 8% split between Hemel and St Albans.

‘In Hemel we will lose pretty much everything we’ve got. As far as I can see we’ll be left with not much more than an outpatient dispensary.

‘It would be far, far better to spend the money on a single new hospital, easily accessible to all three towns and the districts beyond. Rebuilding Watford, whilst keeping it operational, will be a nightmare. I feel sorry for the patients, staff and visitors whilst all that is going on.’

The ‘public engagement’ can be accessed on www.research.net/r/w-FXVZV6C. Sir Mike said: ‘Tell them what you think, but don’t be fooled.’

The ‘public engagement’ closes on 24 March.