A public meeting calling for a new hospital to replace Watford’s “inadequate and dysfunctional facilities” will be held in Kings Langley tomorrow (Thursday) evening.

Presentations from a number of key speakers will argue the case for a new facility to be built serving the whole of west Hertfordshire, while a supporting letter from Hemel Hempstead parliamentary candidate Mike Penning will also be read out.

A flyer sent out to residents in the area claims local health bosses “have let us down badly over the last 20 years, and are now providing us with the most inadequate and dysfunctional hospital facilities in the UK and the developed world”.

READ MORE: Damning report slates 'poor condition' of Watford General Hospital

It says west Hertfordshire “urgently” needs a more centrally located, efficiently designed hospital “fit for the 21st Century”.

An online petition calling for a new facility to be built recently topped more than 10,000 signatures, although the Department of Health refused to wade into the debate, saying that the restructuring of health services was a matter for local NHS trusts.

SEE ALSO: Dept of Health refuses to wade into new hospital debate

The board at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has put forward two options to bring health services in the area up to scratch: either a new facility on the Watford General Hospital site and a redevelopment of St Albans City Hospital or a redevelopment of both hospitals.

The trust ruled out building a new hospital on greenbelt land on the grounds of affordability and timescale, arguing that the required investment would be much more than the £641m it estimates the redevelopment of the two hospitals would cost.  

It added that the complex planning and infrastructure work required for a new build would take too long.

The meeting at the Kings Langley Community Centre, in The Nap, will start at 7.30pm and finish at 9.35pm at the latest, following a question and answer session.