Sheena Phillips has joined West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in a shared appointment with the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, and Dacorum Borough Council.
The three organisations have joined forces to explore opportunities for bringing hospital, GP and community health services into a new purpose-built and accessible health facility that would allow them to provide more joined-up care for the local community. The proposal would involve relocating services currently provided at Hemel Hempstead Hospital to a new town centre health campus, as part of a regeneration plan for the Market Square area.
Sheena will lead work with health services, Dacorum Borough Council and voluntary services as well as local businesses and patients to look at the opportunities provided by the Health Campus proposal and to weigh this up against other options, including developing on the existing Hemel Hempstead Hospital site.
Ms Phillips said: “I’m passionate about working with communities and clinicians to shape models of care that deliver better health for the local population. In my first few weeks, I have met and engaged with residents, healthcare partners and community organisations who are committed to delivering joined-up services for local people. I look forward to meeting more stakeholders through our wider public engagement work, which will start in June.”
Matthew Coats, Chief Executive of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re delighted to have appointed Ms Phillips to the Hemel Hempstead Health Campus team. This is a strong show of commitment by the teams involved in this ambitious plan to improve the health and wellbeing of our local communities.”
Dr Jane Halpin, Chief Executive of NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, said: “Delivering more care and support in community settings, and joining up health and care services, are at the heart of future proposals for the NHS. It’s great to have Sheena leading the work to develop our proposal for a new Health Campus and to support our engagement. We’re committed to hearing the views of a broad range of stakeholders, local people and patients as we develop the detail of this proposal and consider its merits against other alternatives.”
Councillor Sally Symington, Leader of the Council, said: “We’re excited by the progress of the project. Sheena’s appointment will be a great asset to the project team, leading on engagement with community and clinical stakeholders and coordinating technical advisors who are preparing the strategic outline case. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with our partners to progress this project further.”
Ms Phillips brings over 20 years’ experience in healthcare, across primary, community, mental health, secondary care and commissioning. She joins the Hemel Health Campus team from the Whipps Cross Hospital Redevelopment Team, where she led the clinical transformation strategy for the new hospital, and local community-based hospital services.
Technical advisors have been appointed to prepare the strategic outline case to evaluate options for the location of the health campus and the services it will provide, with further engagement with stakeholders, patients and clinicians planned for June 2025 onwards.