Ayfer Orhan & Hemel Hempstead Labour Party

It's a pity that Mr Emerton, in obviously feeling he needed urgent medical attention, did not go straight to the new Urgent Care Centre at Hemel Hempstead Hospital where average waiting times are usually around 30 minutes and where modern diagnostic facilities should have confirmed the nature and urgency of his condition. He could then have been directly referred and, in this case, blue-lighted to Watford and would have been immediately processed, either through its new Accute Admissions Unit or a surgical ward, without need for further triage by A&E because that work will already have done at Hemel's UCC. If Mr Emerton is dissatisfied with the service he received at Watford he should make a formal complaint to the Hospital Trust who will have to investigate and provide answers.

So, here we have it, no A&E at Hemel. I know of no less than 3 elderly people in the "local" community to which Alan refers, and all three have tales of neglect and incompetency. Watford hospital is a state, I myself needed to go there for acute appendicitis, and as it was a football night, the policeman directed me down odd roads (not the main one, and by the time we gave up going round (around 3 times in total, as roads were blocked) the police man had disappeared, and we were able to squeeze past the football louts. This round trip was roughly over 45 minutes... I can get from my home to Hemel A&E in roughly 10 minutes. So you think it was right that I was made to wait a further 35 minutes before arriving, it was then a further 3 hours BEFORE I was seen by ANYONE, purely because Watford were under-staffed, and lacking bed space. I really just hope that no one else needs to use this service as it clearly isn't one. Oh and I have heard about occasions when Watford A&E toilets have been covered with blood for an hour or two before being cleaned. Yes you are right Alan, this IS a better service isn't it?

David, I think you are the first person from amongst 'save the hospital' or DHAG that has accepted the discussion should be about services rather than buildings. More and more we see health services provided locally and more effectively and the need for traditional 'hospital' servics reduced. I suspect people could work together if the focus was on patients and health services rather than buildings.

I have absolutely no political capital to make out of the Hemel Hospital situation. I am part of the 'Save Hemel Hospital crowd', indeed I created a site to give more people more say (and young people who are always ignored) about it - you can see it on Myspace (and reports about it on Sky News's site). I think this talk board is a huge example of naivety as if a hospital can be closed overnight, there are appeal processes and thus we see the slow closure of the hospital. We are not here to scaremonger, I have said time and time again in letters to the Gazette that we need to work together to ensure it does not close. Alan - during the next election the Save Hemel Hospital group will be doing what it always has done, saying our hospital is under threat, we have no interest in who wins the election and all we ask are people to support services remaining in Hemel. In addition to this, our group has been running far longer than Mike Penning had any say and our opinion has remained unchanged. I'd like to wager looking foolish for speaking out to keep hospital services and them staying, rather than burying my head in the sand and seeing them moved from Hemel. Indeed I'd rather let old people know of potential plans, Carol, and see them get a say, than them having no say and eventually be the victims of poor access to hospital facilities. I know for a fact my grandad and grandma put their hands around the hospital.

If you go on to the Gazette website - time and time again you will see instances of ambulances with blue lights flashing taking people to the A&E at Hemel the Tories said was closing two years ago!

You know the saying "no smoke without fire". What I would like to know is if Hemel A & E is not closing why are all the ambulances going to Watford!!

Good on yer Alan. Now that bloke Penning is in a junior shadow minister for the Tories what more can you expect. We hear on the news this morning that all the fuss about the Royal Surrey Hospital closing A&E and maternity is all wrong. Penning just stirs people up with rumours and frightens those old and vulnerable people. He ought to be ashamed of himself.

It really is time to stop the cruel deception perpetrated on Hemel residents by the Hospital Action Group and local Conservatives that Hemel Hospital is set to close. Of course it suits the Tories to promote this falsehood. Local Tories claimed the A&E would close on 1 April 2006. It didn’t. They made a similar claim earlier this year when they said it would close by April 2007. It didn’t. No doubt in the run up to the next general election, when local people see the hospital and A&E services continuing, Mike Penning and his Save our Hospital crowd will claim victory, and try to make us believe it was all down to them. The bureaucrats who run our local health service should have handled the improvements and consequent changes to our health service more capably. However, when they have said that they have no plans to close Hemel Hospital, the evidence has borne them out time and again. Hemel Hospital is not closing!

My mum and dad work at hemel hospital, and they know, aswell as i do that it's going to close, because that fat oaf of an mp Mike penning didnt do anything whatsoever to campaign to save it. Hemel is a shit hole, it's got nothing going for it. shit representation, no jobs, chav's round every steet corner (especially at wolly world). I feel disgraced and ashamed with hemel, and being part of it, that i wouldn't use it as toilet paper to wipe my ass on