Hospital Closed to Treatment for Health and Safety Concerns

Harpenden Memorial Hospital was closed to treatment.  The rooms where skin cancer operations have been carried out are closed.  Paramedics are still allowed to operate out of the hospital, but the treatment rooms are not open.

The decision to close the rooms was based on health and safety concerns.  Minor operations occurred in some rooms that had to deal with skin cancer or other skin issues.  The hospital operating rooms were already closed down several years ago as they were deemed a health and safety risk.

Now the hospital is primarily administrative with some clinics and paramedics. However, the treatment rooms remained opened well after the operating rooms closed.  The HSE and board have decided that the fabric and conditions of the treatment rooms for minor injuries have all deteriorated.

Those involved in the hospital administration, clinics, and emergency services are discussing the matter further.  They may decide to update the rooms or terminate operations completely.  There are many who feel it would be too much money to repair the entire facility and make it safe again for health practises.  If the money can be raised then the rooms may be refurbished, but for now, they will remain closed, as the operating rooms have been.

Paramedics operating out of the hospital will take patients to nearby locations for treatment, and just base their supplies and administration from Harpenden.  It seems the best option right now given the financial strain currently experienced by the trust.