Public Works Committee: Women's and Children's Upgrade Sustainment Program

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:15): I move:

That the third report of the Public Works Committee, entitled Women’s and Children’s Hospital Upgrade Sustainment Program—Addendum, be noted.

The Women's and Children's Hospital is the leading provider of care for children and birthing women in South Australia. It is also the main referral centre for complex paediatric surgical conditions for South Australia, the Northern Territory and various regional centres in Victoria and New South Wales. Each year, more than 30,000 people are admitted and some 5,000 babies are born at the hospital. In addition, more than 250,000 people come to the hospital as outpatients.

The Women's and Children's Hospital Upgrade Sustainment Program was first presented to the committee and reported to this house in December 2018. The original scope of these works has been delivered on site over the past three years and was completed in May 2022. However, since the commencement of the original works, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health needs of South Australians. This includes a significant increase in the demand for the paediatric emergency department and intensive care units.

In response, scope variations to the upgrade sustainment program were proposed by the Women's and Children's Health Network and approved by the then government in December 2021. Two of these variations include proposals for public works.

The first proposal is a clinical upgrade of the hospital's adolescent ward, which in recent years has seen a consequential change in patient demographics, along with a rise in eating disorders and challenging patient behaviour. Currently, staff efforts to de-escalate situations and interact positively with patients are hindered by a lack of space. New multipurpose rooms are proposed to offer space for de-escalation, education and meetings. A larger and dedicated dining room is also planned, with food preparation facilities suitable for those with eating disorders.

The second public works proposal relates to the partial relocation and expansion of the paediatric emergency department. The relocation of the administration unit within the department will provide improved printing and reception areas, ergonomic design and audiovisual capability, as well as a dedicated staff kitchen and breakout area. An expansion of the existing emergency extended care unit and fast-track treatment areas will provide 10 new treatment spaces with dedicated toilet accommodation, positive flow to minimise infection and transmission of airborne viruses, and improved accommodation in line with modern, contemporary models of care.

The Women's and Children's Health Network worked with key stakeholders and clinical staff to develop these scope variations. Given their scope and urgency, it was determined that fit-out works can be most effectively delivered using existing hospital sustainment works contracts managed by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport. This approach will make use of established stakeholder relationships and systems knowledge, fast-track the completion of design and construction works, appropriately manage risk and reduce the administration burden of multiple contracts.

Quarterly updates on the progress of these public works will be provided to the committee through the Department for Health and Wellbeing from September 2022 onwards. The committee has examined written and oral evidence in relation to the addendum to the Women's and Children's Hospital Upgrade Sustainment Program, including receiving oral evidence from Mr Brandan Hewitt, Executive Director of Infrastructure, Department for Health and Wellbeing; Mr Chris Hamer, Project Team Leader of Infrastructure, Department for Health and Wellbeing; Mr Phil Robinson, Executive Director of Corporate Services for Women's and Children's Health Network; and Mr Gary Hazel, Studio Director at GHDWoodhead.

The committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and meets the criteria for examination of projects as set out in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Based upon the evidence considered, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (11:19): I would like to thank the member for Florey for giving a pretty good summary of what we heard in Public Works just this week. I would like to make a few contributions to this important report, which outlines all the sustainment works that happened, of course, under the Marshall Liberal government.

We did have a very comprehensive plan when it came to upgrading the Women's and Children's Hospital. The reason we did was that we simply could not allow the current Women's and Children's Hospital site to go to rack and ruin whilst we were forging ahead with our plan to build the new Women's and Children's Hospital. I would like to touch on our commitment to the new Women's and Children's Hospital because it is going to be a really critical piece of infrastructure that we build here in South Australia.

The sustainment works that were completed were done in two stages, as the member for Florey has outlined: an initial block and then a second block, which was ticked off by the former Liberal government in December last year. It was worth a whopping $83 million, which is quite remarkable, and followed upgrades to the mental health ward, theatre suites, the ED and neonatal nurseries, as well as engineering and ICT infrastructure upgrades over the last four years.

I would like to put on the record a couple of things that, from my perspective, have provided exceptional service to the women and children who use the Women's and Children's Hospital and what they got out of the $83 million sustainment works:

we created an outdoor space and high dependency area for the Mallee Ward;

we expanded the treatment space of the neonatal nursery to provide better access for families and staff;

we improved the triage area;

we added dedicated mental health assessment spaces and three multipurpose consultation spaces for the paediatric emergency department;

additional doctors, nurses and mental health staff were recruited to improve access and flow, which really did have a notable impact;

additional medical staff were recruited to support peak demand and provide a seven-day service during the evening—of course, it will not come as a shock to this house that the evenings are very much the busiest time for the ED;

we refurbished operating theatres;

we upgraded adolescent wards;

we upgraded biomedical equipment; and

additional nurses and medical resources were allocated to the Michael Rice Centre for Oncology.

We had really positive feedback from the families who received such services, and it was a fantastic investment by the former Liberal government.

As I mentioned, we had two stages of sustainment works, and there is a question mark over whether a tranche 3 will be required because, as members may be aware, the current government has put the delivery of the new Women's and Children's Hospital on ice. What we should be seeing on the Women's and Children's Hospital site now is shovels on the ground preparing for construction—which, under the former government, was ready to rock and roll in the later part of this year.

Not only is there a delay in the construction but we also do not know when it will start and therefore we have no idea when it will be finished. We specifically asked at the Public Works Committee this week whether SA Health, and indeed the government, foresees a need for additional money to be injected into the current Women's and Children's Hospital. Much like the former government's absolute commitment to ensuring that the current Women's and Children's Hospital site does not go to rack and ruin, we expect that same level of dedication from this government to ensure that the Women's and Children's Hospital site maintains a quality standard of care for women and children in South Australia.

We certainly look forward to getting updated quarterly about the progress made on the sustainment works, and I would certainly like to add my support, again, to all the work that the Marshall Liberal government did in this space.

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:24): I want to take this opportunity to thank the member for Schubert for her contribution.

Motion carried.