West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has launched a public engagement programme to gather feedback on its proposals to improve its services.

The trust is in line to receive hundreds of millions of pounds of funding from the government, which the trust is planning to spend the majority of rebuilding an "ageing" Watford General Hospital.

Up to 90 per cent of the site could be rebuilt, while services at St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead hospitals are also in line for investment.

The trust says the starting point of the proposals is for each of the hospitals to have a more "clearly defined role".

Emergency, inpatient and complex care will remain at Watford; Hemel Hempstead Hospital will be the centre for planned medical care and long term conditions and St Albans City Hospital will be the centre for planned surgery and cancer care.

Urgent care services and some outpatient services will be provided at all three sites, the trust says.

The trust is currently at the outline business case stage of a major bid to the government for funding but has just launched a new engagement survey, Your Care, Your Views.

Chief medical officer Mike van der Watt said: "Creating a unique role for each site and making sure it has the right staff and facilities to provide an excellent standard of care is the backbone of our plans.

"I want to thank our busy clinicians for making the time to develop the proposals we are making public today. Despite the pressures, we have had great engagement and it’s clear how committed our staff are to making our services the best they can be. We have reviewed the latest best practice from this country and abroad and have used that as well as national policy and our own ideas to create a vastly improved way of delivering patient care.

"I am excited by our plans which are about so much more than buildings and beds. The quality and safety of our services and the clinical outcomes we want for our patients have been our guiding force."

Visit https://www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk/about/redevelopment/yourcareyourviews.asp to give your views about the trust’s plans for its hospital sites.