Queensland’s auditor-general has uncovered a multi-billion-dollar debacle in the planning and delivery of three new hospitals.
A report tabled in Parliament found the cost of building the three tertiary hospitals – promised by then premier Peter Beattie in 2006 – was underestimated by $2.2 billion.
Auditor-general Andrew Greaves found many failures in how the Beattie government planned and approved the building of the Gold Coast University Hospital, the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital and the Sunshine Coast Public University Hospital.
The expected final cost of the three projects is $5.08 billion – some $2.2 billion more, or 77 per cent higher, than initial estimates.
“Initial cost estimates for each project were announced before business cases were developed,” Mr Greaves said.
“There were no caveats on the reliability or completeness of estimates when they were made public.”
The report also said it was impossible to conclusively show whether the hospitals were worth building.
“None of the projects can objectively demonstrate how the new hospitals will improve health outcomes in their communities compared to defined targets, because they did not identify and set a baseline for the benefits,” the reports said.
Premier Campbell Newman said the report shows why it was necessary for Queenslanders to vote the former government out.
“If you thought health payroll was bad, this is the mother of all waste scandals in the health area,” he said.
“(The) $2.2 billion would have totally cleared waiting lists in Queensland (or) built another two hospitals.”
Labor defends record on health investment
Apart from cost blowouts, the auditor-general also found there was another $171 million in costs to find “interim solutions” to meet the healthcare needs in the regions, while the hospitals were being built.
The report said that when the project was announced by the Beattie government, detailed planning had not been completed, leading to costly “reactive planning” down the track.
The auditor-general also found there were major flaws in the Queensland Health agreements on land acquisition, relocation of affected parties, car park development and operation and purchase of services.
Queensland Health transferred economic benefits worth at least $190 million to third parties across the three projects, the report said.
“However, it has not consistently transferred the risks commensurate with the value of these economic benefits, meaning it has retained risks without the potential benefits,” Mr Greaves wrote in the report.
Opposition Health Spokeswoman Jo-Ann Miller said Labor had not read the report but that if there were any lessons to learn, they would be for all governments to take heed of.
She said Labor was proud to have invested in health.
“People in those regions have thanked us for building capacity in their area,” she said.