Public Works Committee: Naracoorte Health Service Upgrade

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:35): I move:

That the 102^nd report of the committee, entitled Naracoorte Health Service Upgrade, be noted.

The Naracoorte Health Service is one of seven hospitals and health service locations operating in the Limestone Coast Local Health Network catchment. The hospital provides acute inpatient care, emergency, surgical, maternity and chemotherapy, as well as co-located residential aged care, community health and mental health services. Other services within the broader hospital site include physiotherapy, radiology, general practice, Country Health Connect and the Naracoorte Ambulance Station.

During the 2021-22 period, the emergency department (ED) received 5,690 presentations. SA Health modelling anticipates those numbers to increase to 6,250 presentations by 2032, with 35 per cent of these presentations anticipated to be either paediatric or geriatric. The first stage of works will support the projected consumer growth, renew ageing and end-of-life infrastructure and meet contemporary Australasian Health Facility Guidelines.

The proposed $8 million program of works is part of the state government's 2022 health services election commitment in the Limestone Coast region and will include upgrading the ED as well as building a new central lift with associated extensions and making service upgrades to the site's infrastructure. The program will improve the quality and safety of care, address service compliance such as infection control and health service needs and address site asset sustainment, including risks of breakdowns and asset failure.

After identifying that the existing hospital's infrastructure and services are insufficient to meet current standards and accommodate anticipated growth, SA Health recommended that the priority for the first stage of redevelopment is the refurbishment of the ED and installation of a new central lift. The project will:

extend the existing patient bay room, allowing for three high-observation bays to comply with Australasian Health Facility Guidelines;

refurbish the resuscitation bay;

construct a new waiting area and two new consulting rooms;

build the new lift, as well as a lift foyer, office and store area;

refurbish the foyer and construct a new corridor link to the rebuilt stairwell;

upgrade electrical infrastructure and replace the suction plant;

refurbish three dirty utility rooms; and

construct fire and smoke zones to comply with the National Construction Code.

Main construction is anticipated to commence prior to the end of this year, with the works scheduled for completion in July of next year. The project will be delivered following best practice principles for project procurement and management as advocated by the state government and construction industry authorities. The project's management team will:

engage in extensive consultation to ensure the development and adoption of new and emerging strategies;

evaluate and review potential solutions against the brief;

develop formal communication channels between end users, stakeholders, the local health network and SA Health;

prepare and manage a project program that reflects the project's scope and procurement requirements;

establish a cost plan and manage project cost effectively;

schedule regular reviews of design, documentation and construction;

appoint professional service contractors; and

identify and manage risks, as well as implement appropriate mitigation strategies.

The project's professional services contractors have been engaged by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, who will also engage the general building contractor. The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport will act as principal for all contractors.

The project team has established formal processes to ensure that sustainable development factors are incorporated throughout the project life cycle. A design workgroup is tasked with ensuring sustainability principles are integrated into all work undertaken and an independent advocate will assist with the successful delivery of these considerations. Proposed sustainability measures include:

incorporation of flexible engineering spaces that support future changes in technology;

mechanical systems designed for potential increases in temperature and adverse weather;

effective management and protocols to reduce environmental impact over the building's lifespan;

use of responsibly sourced and versatile materials that improve efficiency and environmental outcomes;

energy-efficient lighting and appliances; and

water-efficient tapware and plumbing, as well as initiatives that optimise the use of rainwater.

Furthermore, the department states that significant trees within any of the development zones will be addressed in accordance with the significant trees legislation.

The Central Archive in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation division has identified no record of Aboriginal sites within the proposed works location, and there is no other recorded heritage value located on the site.

SA Health is engaged in ongoing consultation with the community and relevant stakeholders, including clinical and non-clinical medical staff, consumer reference groups, and appropriate industrial bodies. The local community has been engaged through a two-way process at various levels, including via public notices and key stakeholder group consultation. The project has also undertaken specialised expert reviews with various units and agencies within SA Health and the local health network. SA Health's media communications unit will manage required external communication throughout the life of the project.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the Naracoorte Health Service upgrade. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were: Tim Packer, Acting Deputy Chief Executive, Corporate and Infrastructure Division, Department for Health and Wellbeing; Tjaart Van Der Westhuizen, Project Manager, Limestone Coast Local Health Network; and Rachela Snewin, Senior Architect and Team Leader, GHD Design. I thank the witnesses for their time. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the member for MacKillop who presented to the committee regarding this project 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 work.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (11:41): It gives me great pleasure to speak to the 102^nd report of the Public Works Committee entitled, Naracoorte Health Service Upgrade, and that it be noted. It is with great appreciation that I thank not only the Public Works Committee and the Presiding Member, the member for Florey, but also the government in general, the Labor government, for their advocacy towards Naracoorte of $8 million.

In the first four years of my political career under the Liberal government, we saw $3.6 million rolled out to Naracoorte, and now we are seeing a further $8 million. In the first $3.6 million there were some really good upgrades made, or let's say participating in old infrastructure of the Naracoorte hospital, and now with this further $8 million it is starting to be quite noted and very much well appreciated. I am sure by the time this $8 million is rolled out and all the upgrades are completed, those using the Naracoorte hospital will appreciate some changes, although I would not say major changes because I think from the outside it is not going to be a total overhaul. It is certainly a very large complex, but it is also a very old complex.

I just bring to the attention of the parliament that this hospital has foundations and beginnings that go back to 1863, 1880, 1920s, 1950s and sixties, then 1970s, and even 1984 I see here, and then another wing in 2002. It is a very fragmented, old building and facility in Naracoorte, and probably one of the things I have to say is that it has been said—and I found out in the first couple of years in politics—that we could go back to 2000 and there have been two attempts of actually building and planning for a whole new hospital because of its age. I have to say that that proposal has probably not been written off, but it certainly will not be part of this $8 million upgrade.

In this $8 million upgrade, I have to just make note of what some of the basics are that we are going to see at the Naracoorte hospital. These are providing new clinical and patient spaces, significant improvements in the accident and emergency, and another one that really comes to mind is installing a new lift. I do pick up on the rhetoric and the language that our health minister used the other day when I took him down and we had a look at what has been done at Naracoorte, and what is going to be done, and he called it the world's slowest lift from one floor to the next. I think the lift is not very reliable either, so it might not work on the day. It has certainly been really tough on everyone at Naracoorte, be it staff or patients, using this old infrastructure. We are going to see some major improvements in the areas that this $8 million is going to cover off on.

I am not only a strong advocate for the Naracoorte hospital but also Naracoorte as a regional hub. We have just heard from the member for Adelaide supporting me. She has a very strong history of bringing friends and family and the like down to the Naracoorte community. She knows what the Naracoorte hospital has been and where it is potentially going.

While supporting the government in this investment of $8 million, I note they have also indicated they are going to spend another $1 million on a review and I am supportive of that like you would not believe, along with the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, which is very supportive as to how that might look for this hospital with the upgrades of $8 million, as the Public Works Committee Presiding Member has just indicated, but also what it could mean for Naracoorte and the region.

That is the exciting part here. It is like, 'We are not sure what we have got and we are not sure when it will happen,' but there are some really good conversations going on there with some investments around planning and understanding the needs of the community not only in Naracoorte but also the surrounds, towns, small clinics, hospitals and the like. It is looking at what Naracoorte can do, rather than what it is doing.

One of the things that came to mind is that I have heard that specialists can turn up at Mount Gambier, work with the infrastructure and some of the difficulties of a health system that is under pressure, and they may be able to get up to four operations in the day surgery per day, but they can go to Naracoorte and they can get eight or nine of these same surgeries done in Naracoorte because the facilities there will allow this to occur. That may be because it does not have the inundation that Mount Gambier has or there might be more room for recovery and those sorts of things.

What this means is that the specialists want to turn up at Naracoorte and get the eight or nine per day rather than going down to Mount Gambier and getting only three done per day. Obviously, this gives Naracoorte one of its strengths in backing up the major regional centre of Mount Gambier. With Naracoorte only being an hour away from Mount Gambier, we could see these sorts of investments that the Public Works Committee is indicating reinforce, strengthen the Naracoorte facilities and make Naracoorte a real medical hub that would support the towns of Bordertown, Padthaway, Lucindale, Kingston, Robe and then obviously down towards Penola and potentially Millicent. However, I recognise that once you are in Penola and Millicent, it is only half an hour south of there and you are in Mount Gambier, which has a new complex and a bigger one.

Naracoorte is really in the centre, but on the eastern side of the Limestone Coast. It is nearly in the centre of MacKillop as well and we are not far from the Victorian border. We saw this really clearly through COVID when that line in the sand became almost like the Great Wall of China: you could not go through it for love nor money. We had Victorians locked out of South Australia seeking expertise in health and outcomes around the Naracoorte hospital, so we know we service the Victorian side and Victorians. Not only that but we know there are specialists coming across from Victoria as well, which could be nurses or midwives or others, coming in to work at the Naracoorte hospital and obviously adding to all the needs that go on there.

So, without any further ado, I am just going to say that I really appreciate the Public Works Committee. I have loved the opportunity to present, like I did, to the Public Works Committee about this build. I know that I am very collaborative working with the Limestone Coast Local Health Network board and the builders and the designers. I am grateful for the advocacy from the Marshall years of $3.6 million that started this ball rolling. I am certainly very grateful to the Malinauskas state Labor government and their promise of $8 million at the last state election—and they are honouring it, with an extra $1 million to look at what else Naracoorte can be. Fingers crossed, we will address all that is wrong with Naracoorte. We will pick up on what we can make Naracoorte into and hopefully it can turn into the real precinct that Naracoorte and the region deserves.

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:49): I take this opportunity to thank the member for MacKillop for his contribution to the debate and for his kind words about how much he enjoys presenting to the committee. I can certainly say on behalf of the committee that the committee enjoys it when he comes to present to us. There is no other member who has presented to the committee, as long as I have been on there, who has been as comprehensive and passionate about projects in his electorate as the member for MacKillop. I thank him and I look forward to seeing him give submissions on future projects.

The SPEAKER: Very well put, member for Florey. He is the lion of Naracoorte.

Motion carried.