HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-16 Daily Xml
Contents
Xml

Public Works Committee: Northern Adelaide Renal Haemodialysis Services

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (11:11): I move:

That the 154th report of the committee, entitled Renal Haemodialysis Services Project, be noted.

I ask for your indulgence today, Mr Speaker. It is my first day on the Public Works Committee. Although I have not been around for this project I am well and truly looking forward to being on this committee and watching other very important projects progress as we move through. I am very familiar, of course, with the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, where Modbury Hospital, my local hospital, is located.

NALHN does have the second fastest growing population in South Australia, with a projected population of approximately 460,000 people by 2032. Further compounding the associated increase in health service demand, the health network also has the highest percentage of the most vulnerable population, including things such as chronic disease and substance misuse, compared with the rest of the state. We anticipate that the expected growth will be most significant in older demographics. Presently, NALHN is approximately 54 per cent self-sufficient, indicating 46 per cent of its treatment population must travel outside the local health network to access healthcare services.

Project modelling by the Department for Health and Wellbeing (SA Health), indicates that the northern Adelaide region will experience a significant increase in the demand for renal dialysis in coming years. The current haemodialysis unit at Lyell McEwin Hospital provides services for the local health network catchment area, but the inpatient dialysis model has been limited. Subsequently, NALHN's Closer to Home initiative has identified the need to expand renal patient services within its catchment area.

The current model of care provides haemodialysis to 89 maintenance patients across two units, as well as a limited inpatient dialysis program that includes both inpatient and rehabilitation patients. The proposed project will support an additional 84 patients, almost double the current capacity, as well as provide additional dialysis capacity within the system to address increasing demands. The proposed Northern Adelaide Renal Haemodialysis Services Project will provide 21 new inpatient renal haemodialysis chairs, as well as the relocation of an additional nine from a temporary pop-up service that has been operating within the hospital.

A review of the hospital site revealed a lack of space to efficiently deliver the haemodialysis service, as well as likely interruptions to the existing services. Providing the new 30-chair service will instead involve fitting out a 1,300 square metre lease tenancy located across the road from the hospital at somewhere else I am quite familiar with, the Playford Health Hub. The fit-out will deliver:

26 open bays;

two enclosed treatment rooms;

two enclosed bariatric-sized treatment rooms with a shared ensuite;

clinical support spaces;

storerooms;

dirty and clean utility spaces;

three staff spaces providing line of sight to consumer treatment spaces;

a reception and clerical zone for pre-treatment activities;

dementia-friendly design principles;

offices and open-plan workstations; and

a shared lunch room providing both indoor and outdoor accommodation.

The existing building provides sufficient mechanical, electrical, fire protection and hydraulic service infrastructure systems and is serviced by an adjacent multideck car park, which is another thing we know is very important in our growing community in the northern and north-eastern suburbs. The building forecourt hosts additional short-term parking that supports consumer drop-off and pick-up needs as well as waste and delivery services and an undercover ambulance hardstand.

The project is expected to cost approximately $12 million, which was allocated in the 2024-25 budget. Construction is anticipated to commence this November, with the expectation that it will be complete and operational hopefully by July next year. The project management process will follow best practice principles for procurement and management, as advocated by the state government as well as construction industry authorities.

Processes have included: extensive consultation; evaluation and review of solutions; development of formal communication channels between end users and stakeholders; establishment and management of a cost plan; regular reviews of design, documentation and construction; appointment of contractors; and identification and management of potential risks. The professional services and construction contractors have been engaged by DIT under general conditions of contracts and consultants.

The professional services contractor team will engage secondary contractors as required. DIT is managing the engagement of the construction contractor using established procurement evaluation and contracting processes, and the project proposes to engage incumbent contractors from the previous 48-bed hospital expansion—which is excellent, I must say—due to their existing knowledge of the site. In order to qualify for invitation to tender, both the professional services contractors and construction contractors are to maintain current DIT prequalification levels for the design and delivery of state government infrastructure projects.

To manage the project throughout planning and implementation as well as managing risk, the project has established a two-tier governance structure comprising an integrated management team responsible for day-to-day operations as well as an executive leadership team responsible for strategic oversight. The project team has established formal processes to ensure that ecologically sustainable development strategies are comprehensively and systematically incorporated into the project during all phases of its life cycle.

Strategies will be informed by the architect and building services engineers, who are highly experienced at implementing environmentally sensitive design. Initiatives include: implementation of an environmental management plan to manage construction waste, air, water and noise pollution; use of efficient luminaries for lighting; water-efficient sanitary and tapware fixtures; high-efficiency plumbing; use of materials sourced from certified environmentally responsible sources; and, of course, the preference of durable and recycled materials wherever possible.

SA Health have also stated that a search of the central archive identified there are no Aboriginal sites in the proposed work location, and that the state Heritage Register has no record of state heritage within the project site. The project is engaged in ongoing consultation with relevant stakeholders, including clinical and non-clinical medical staff and appropriate industrial bodies. The project has also undertaken specialised expert reviews with various units and agencies within SA Health and the local health network, and documentation has been circulated within relevant government departments. NALHN and the SA Health media and communications unit will manage required external communications throughout the life of the project.

The committee did examine written and oral evidence in relation to the Northern Adelaide Renal Haemodialysis Services Project. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were: Melissa Nozza, Director, Capital Projects, from the Department for Health and Wellbeing; Peter Mullen, Executive Director, Corporate Services, at NALHN; John Jenner, Portfolio Manager at DIT; and Scott Suter, Project Director, from Cheesman Architects. I thank the witnesses for their time. Based upon the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to the parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Motion carried.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT