Watford General Hospital

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Watford General Hospital is a 521-bed acute District General Hospital situated on Vicarage Road, Watford, Hertfordshire. It is operated by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust together with Hemel Hempstead General Hospital in Hemel Hempstead and the St Albans City Hospital in St Albans.The hospital is served by buses running between Watford town centre and Rickmansworth.A new London Underground Metropolitan line station, Watford Vicarage Road, is planned to be built nearby as part of the Croxley Rail Link project.HistoryWatford General was formed at the foundation of the National Health Service utilising buildings which were formerly the Watford workhouse and, from 1929, Shrodells Public Assistance Institution. Also incorporating Watford's Peace Memorial Hospital which was transferred to the Shrodells site when the Peace Memorial closed in 1985. The Peace Hospice is situated on the former Peace Memorial site.Outline planning permission to redevelop the hospital and create the Watford Health Campus was granted in 2008. Section 106 agreements which will provide £3 million for infrastructure around the Vicarage Road site, including education and transport, were signed on 26 March 2010. In August 2012 Kier Property was selected to build the development. It will take 15 to 20 years to complete.