Dear Editor

I do wish both Robert Halfon and Cllr Dan Swords would stop over egging their public statements about the progress of the new hospital. They keep presenting it as a done deal, when they know there are still a number of hurdles to be overcome.  

Yes, it is good news that after extensive delays the Treasury has given an agreement in principle to funding a new Princess Alexandra Hospital. It is also good news that they have given agreement on the commencement of enabling works so that the Trust can now start the process of purchasing the necessary land. 

However,  

1. The Treasury still have to sign off the Outline Business Case and the final design for the hospital. A design which has yet to be finalised by the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust and the NHS. 
2. The land, which is somewhere near the new M11 junction, has yet to be  purchased from the current owners, 
3. Planning permission has to yet to be granted by Epping Forest District Council,  
4. The building contracts will then have to be let, the building work completed and the hospital will have finally to be fully commissioned. 

And, incidentally we are being told by Robert Halfon that all this will be completed by 2028. Whilst the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust say that it will be 2030. Either way it is a tight deadline. (Remember we were originally told back in 2019 that the hospital had to be built by 2025) 

There is also the small matter of the National Audit Office raising serious concerns about the risk of new “hospitals being built that are that are too small to meet the needs of the communities they serve.” We have yet to be told by the Trust the detail of how exactly services will be provide. The Trust talk about “doing things differently” – whilst the National Audit Office raises significant concerns about the governments stated assumption “that hospitals will need fewer beds in future with patients experiencing shorter stays ”  – something the NAO describes as “poorly supported by the evidence”. 

I hope that the Trust will now engage in a meaningful discussion with the public about what will be provided (they after all are the major stakeholders) So that it can be shown that views have been listened to in a meaningful way, prior to everything being literally “set in stone”. 

I fully recognise that planning and building a new hospital is a massive task. The new Princess Alexandra Hospital will serve a catchment population in excess of 500,000. I welcome the fact that the Government has given a commitment in principle to build a new hospital and has at last agreed to fund the necessary “enablement work”, but it is only one of many steps.  

Mr Halfon and Cllr Swords now need to drop the hyperbole about “a fully funded state of the art hospital”. They need to be straight with the public about the work that has yet to be done and the likely constraints. 

We need a realistic timescale for completion of the work. 

We need a firm undertaking from Essex County Council regarding the provision of a reliable and funded 24 hour bus service to and from the new hospital site and the Harlow Town Centre. 

We also need evidence of a clear process of public engagement and a strong Harlow Voice in the planning and commissioning of how exactly hospital services for a catchment area of 500,000 people are to be provided in the hopefully not too distant future.  

Yours Sincerely 

Cllr Tony Edwards