The boards of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group will meet together this Thursday (6 June) to have a discussion in public and agree a preliminary view on the emerging preferred way forward for hospital development.

At the meeting the boards will look objectively and thoroughly at the information about four shortlisted options (against a benchmark ‘do minimum' option) before agreeing which they think is preferable.

The meeting will take place from 9am to 10.30am at Watford Football Club and members of the public are welcome to attend.

So that the boards hear a range of opinions on what is an important topic for local people, we have allocated 20 minutes during the session for members of the public to express their views. People are invited to make a representation in person of up to two minutes and anyone wishing to do so should email  governance@whht.nhs.uk  by 5pm on Tuesday 4 June. All requests will be reviewed and people will be told by the end of Wednesday if their request has been accepted. In reviewing requests the team will aim to ensure that as many points as possible are covered and that duplication is limited. If time permits, comments from the floor will be welcomed, should they represent an aspect not previously covered.

Anyone who is not able to or does not want to make a verbal statement at the meeting can submit a representation of up to 500 words by 5pm on Tuesday June 4 to governance@whht.nhs.uk  for circulation to both boards.

To view the board papers for this meeting use this link or go to www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk . As this is not a decision-making meeting and boards are being asked to consider all options objectively, there is no recommendation as part of the board papers. The boards will arrive at a shared consensus on an emerging preferred option that will be presented to a public meeting on Thursday 13 June.  This will take place at the Metropolitan Police Bushey Sports Club, Aldenham Road, Bushey from 7pm to 9pm (with doors opening at 6.15pm).To register for this meeting go to Eventbrite https://hospital-plans-meeting.eventbrite.co.uk

The emerging preferred way forward will form the basis of the draft strategic outline case (SOC). This will be published at the end of June ahead of both boards meeting separately on 11 July to discuss and formally agree the preferred way forward. The SOC is due to be submitted to regulators at the end of July.