Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: Leigh Creek Health Clinic

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:01): I move:

That the 29^th report of the committee, titled Leigh Creek Health Clinic, be noted.

The Department for Health and Wellbeing or SA Health proposes to establish a new health clinic in Leigh Creek, replacing the existing clinic, which has exceeded its functional design life. The project is aligned with the strategic intent of the Leigh Creek Transformation Project. The Leigh Creek Health Clinic forms part of the Flinders and Upper North Local Health Network and plays an important and leading role in the delivery of health and aged-care services from Whyalla and Port Augusta hospitals, in addition to healthcare facilities at Roxby Downs, Quorn and Hawker.

The Leigh Creek district includes several townships that are home to approximately 200 Aboriginal people and provides important health services to the Indigenous community. The health clinic currently provides weekly visiting general practitioner services, pharmacy services, 24/7 medical support and visiting community-based services, and provides important care to the community on country. The establishment of the new clinic will provide essential health care and services to support a sustainable remote community, and associated tourist activity within the region, and will minimise travel to neighbouring health facilities.

The expected outcomes of the project are to provide a new fit-for-purpose health service in Leigh Creek and enable the disposal of an end-of-life asset, to ensure continuity of clinical services in Leigh Creek and the surrounding regional catchment areas, maintain an accessible clinic for the community to receive care on country and design a clinic with the ability to expand and contract in response to potential longer term changes to clinical models of care in the context of local requirements.

The continuity of health service delivery in Leigh Creek supports the local community and surrounding catchment areas and aims to expand its reach of health services in the community in a flexible and high-quality environment. This is evident through its adaptable design to accommodate future needs of the community and associated healthcare delivery. The new clinic will be located on an amalgamation of three lots on Black Oak Drive, Leigh Creek, where existing properties at this location have been demolished as part of the broader township demolition program undertaken by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (Department for Infrastructure and Transport).

The health clinic has been designed to have a minimum 50-year design life, providing long-term asset security and performance within the community. The design is to a size that reflects the clinical services demanded of the area and ensures effective utilisation of the building. Once construction of the new clinic has been completed, the existing clinical services will cease operation and transfer its operations to the new clinic, ensuring the continuity of the health service.

Plans submitted by SA Health call for the construction of a new health clinic, which will comprise:

two emergency treatment areas for stabilisation and triage services;

three multidisciplinary consult spaces with videoconferencing and telehealth capabilities, to be used by visiting clinicians;

SA Ambulance Service crew respite space and garage;

clinical support spaces, including utility and storage spaces;

consumer and visitor waiting space;

reception area with visiting GP-operated pharmacy;

administrative and amenities spaces;

mortuary facilities; and

staff and visitor car parking.

The addition of a new SA Ambulance Service crew respite space and garage will provide paramedic crews with appropriate rest and respite areas and secure storage and charging facilities so that paramedic services can continue to operate in remote communities safely and effectively. Due to the age of existing health equipment, the new clinic will also include an upgrade of relevant medical equipment.

The total investing budget for the project is $5.89 million, of which $1.8 million was committed in the 2020-21 state budget, with a further $4.09 million supplemented by the broader Leigh Creek Transformation program. Construction is scheduled to commence in June, with practical completion and commissioning in December of this year. Sarah Constructions have been appointed as the building contractors and will incorporate ecologically sustainable development strategies into the clinic's design. The clinic construction will utilise a prefabricated modular methodology where the clinic will be constructed off site and transported to site for assembly.

Onsite works will be undertaken concurrently to prepare the foundations and structural piers that the modular facility will be placed upon. The benefit of utilising prefabricated modular construction techniques in this context is to appropriately address the remoteness of Leigh Creek and the anticipated premiums associated with construction in a remote area. Demonstrated experience with this type of construction was noted in the tender field of construction contractors and was a requirement for the engagement of the services of the successful contractor. Selection of the contracted tender field was approved by DIT's Transport Tender Allocations Committee.

SA Health states that consultation has been a key theme throughout the concept planning and will continue with various stakeholders during the design and construction process. Stakeholders include clinical and non-clinical staff, consumer reference groups and industrial bodies.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the Leigh Creek Health Clinic project. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were Melissa Nozza, Director, Capital Projects and Infrastructure, SA Health; Craig Packard, Chief Executive Officer, Flinders and Upper North Local Health Network; John Harrison, Director, Building Projects, Department for Infrastructure and Transport; and Jon Anderson, Business Manager, Sarah Build. I thank the witnesses for their time. I would also like to thank the member for Stuart for the written statement supporting this project, which is in his electorate.

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.

Motion carried.