Local Liberal Democrats were dismayed to learn that following inspections by the Quality Care Commission, West Herts Hospitals Trust has been put into "Special Measures". The West Herts Trust runs health services in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans. Chris White, spokesperson on Health, for the Liberal Democrat Hertfordshire County Council Group said: 'We had suspected for a while that the report would be bad but this is even worse than was feared. 'It is important to put into action a plan for improving the services at the three hospitals and for the public to gain reassurance that the services are on an upwards and not a downwards trajectory. 'Hertfordshire County Council has the role of scrutinising the NHS in Hertfordshire and we will be having a meeting with the inspectors next week where we hope to hear more about how quickly the many failings can be addressed.' He added: 'There has been a long history of management instability at the trust. The most recent full-time chief executive, for instan