THE Repatriation General Hospital and Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre have been earmarked for closure and their services will be diverted to larger hospitals as part of the State Government’s major health system overhaul.
Unveiling the Transforming Health agenda today, Health Minister Jack Snelling revealed plans to fold the Repat and Hampstead services into Flinders Medical Centre and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital respectively.
The moves are part of a dramatic refocusing of Adelaide’s hospitals, particularly the bolstering of the new Royal Adelaide, Flinders and Lyell McEwin hospitals.
These will become “super sites” for major emergencies and have 24/7 specialist staffing, as revealed by The Advertiser last month.
This involves a scaling down of the Queen Elizabeth and Modbury hospitals, in particular, because life-threatening emergencies will now go directly to the so-called super sites.
The co-location of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the new RAH will be accelerated to ensure these services are alongside an adult intensive care unit and specialist care is available for mothers.
Changes to staff rosters will require the Government to consult widely with doctors and the nursing union, although it is understood Mr Snelling believes there is sufficient flexibility within existing pay deals.
Today, The Advertiser revealed an average of 516 more people a year are dying in South Australian hospitals than in others across the nation.
The Liberals are warning the plans will inflict hundreds of millions of dollars of cuts on struggling frontline hospitals and force people to drive further and wait longer for emergency treatment.
But Mr Snelling said the plan aims to ensure South Australians have the best quality healthcare system into the future by responding to changing community needs and technology and treatment advances.
Mr Snelling said the proposed changes are underpinned by meeting clinical standards but concedes cost savings will flow from the system redesign.
The long-speculated closure of the Repat will not occur until the building of a new rehabilitation facility at Flinders and the Transforming Health proposals paper says some significant areas will be retained.
A new post-traumatic stress centre will be built to replace some of the services now offered at the Repat.
The Hampstead site is likely to be sold off eventually but significant community facilities, such as a gym and pool, are likely to remain.
Rehabilitation services at St Margaret’s Hospital, at Semaphore South, also will be integrated into major hospitals but the site will continue to have a “health focus” into the future.
In other changes outlined in the Transforming Health paper:
NOARLUNGA Hospital will become a speciality service for single-day elective surgery, while the QEH’s specialty will be multi-day elective surgery.
THE third surgery specialist service will be at the new RAH, which will focus on high-complexity multi-day surgery.
A SINGLE statewide cardiothoracic surgical service will be created, including specialist sites at Flinders and the new RAH.
A NEW dedicated elective eye centre will operate at Modbury Hospital.
A 24/7 hyper-acute stroke unit at the new RAH will be created, along with dedicated stroke units at the Lyell McEwin and Flinders.
The Transforming Health paper also includes plans to hire more than 70 extra paramedics and support staff, buy 12 new ambulances and build two new “hub and spoke” ambulance stations in the northern and western suburbs