An MP has reacted angrily to news that a new hospital will not be built after a trust opted for a redevelopment of Watford General Hospital instead.

Hemel Hempstead MP Sir Mike Penning has written to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, where he openly criticised the management at West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust and Herts Valleys CCG.

Sir Mike has campaigned for a new hospital – and pointed towards land between Leverstock Green and the M1 as a “life-time opportunity to get it right”. The MP believes the location provides access to Watford, St Albans, and Hemel Hempstead, as well as easy links to the M1 and M25.

At a public meeting in Watford in January, bosses at the hospital quashed any chances of a new hospital.

Sir Mike said: “It is madness to attempt to rebuild the crumbling set of rambling buildings at Watford whilst all the time keeping the hospital open. We all know it will be more expensive to do that than start from fresh.

“The New Hospital Campaign has done an excellent job in putting forward a strong and well-argued case by recognised experts in the field.

“The trust management and CCG are both failing in their duty of care to local people if they do not even consider the new build option. It is clear to me that there is now not just a lack of management skills from both organisations but also now obvious maladministration.”

WHHT says it is “closer than ever” to securing funding for future hospital development but says building a new hospital is too expensive.

Acting chief executive at WHHT, Helen Brown, and also on behalf of the CCG, said,: “The NHS nationally has signalled that we will get support for an affordable proposal which is within a funding threshold linked to the trust’s annual turnover. This means that we absolutely cannot proceed with a redevelopment option that costs more than £350 million.

“We are working through a process, involving clinicians and representatives from the community to explore options that result in a proposal that meets regulators’ requirements.

“Despite financial constraints we have a fantastic opportunity to transform services and we are working with key people, including MPs, to agree a preferred way forward that people can unite behind. Some local MPs have indicated their support for our approach.”

The trust has also confirmed the multi-storey car park, which was given the go-ahead on the Farm Terrace Allotment site at Watford General Hospital, frees up the current car park for redevelopment, which could include new hospital facilities.

The space the trust refers to is the current car parking site.

Plans have not been finalised as to how the hospital site and adjacent land will be developed and the trust says it depends on how much government funding it can secure.