The future of Fremantle Hospital‘s intensive care unit is being closely looked at, as the Government attempts to cut costs at the facility.
WA Health Department officials told a parliamentary committee hearing that Fremantle Hospital was increasingly under-utilised but still over budget and that a range of savings measures were having to be considered.
Authorities said they hoped a new system that would merge the management of Fremantle and Fiona Stanley hospitals would reduce costs but further measures were being looked at.
Officials said one potential saving being considered was closing Fremantle’s intensive care unit but insisted no decision would be made until the new year.
“The ICU at Fremantle has a very, very low occupancy rate and it is a very, very expensive facility to run because of the high medical costs,” South Metropolitan Health Service chief executive Robyn Lawrence told the hearing.
“It doesn’t matter if there’s one patient there or 10, it costs me the same, so I have got to look at that very seriously.
“We haven’t made a final decision yet but just the same as every other service, we are looking at what is the most effective way.
“Ultimately, we need to better utilise Fremantle, it is under-utilised presently.”
AMA urges caution over proposed closure
The Australian Medical Association expressed caution over the prospect of the intensive care unit being closed.
“If you don’t have it there as a backup, you couldn’t do big joint replacement surgery there on older people,” AMA WA president Michael Gannon said.
“Then if you move all the elected orthopaedics to Fiona Stanley, then cases get cancelled whenever there are interruptions, like a run of flu.”
Bureaucrats at the hearing were also quizzed on the future of the State’s Quadriplegic Centre in Shenton Park, which is half a century old.
Its dilapidated state and the failure to better maintain it have drawn heavy criticism, but officials said they were hopeful there would be funding to redevelop it in the next State budget.
“It is a ministerial priority, the minister has given his imprimatur to the quad centre being a priority and it is a very old facility,” Health Department Director-General David Russell-Weisz said.
“This is not just about rebuilding the facility as is, it is about rebuilding it into a more contemporary model, so probably a smaller facility with better services.”
Dr Russell-Weisz said cost estimates for a redevelopment had not yet been completed, but a business case was being developed.