Page 865 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 1990
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The first national comparison of hospitals in 1988 identified ACT hospitals as the most expensive to operate in Australia, even though utilisation rates were the lowest. The Commonwealth Grants Commission recognised that running three major public hospitals contributed to this inefficiency.
Since 1985 there have also been a number of proposals and plans for hospital redevelopment. These initially focused on rationalising the services at Royal Canberra Hospital and Woden Valley Hospital, providing two different but complementary roles.
In December 1988 an independent review of ACT hospital services recommended adoption of the "one principal hospital" concept and the establishment of a steering committee to review the options for implementing the scheme. This steering committee was established by the Commonwealth Government in February 1989.
In August 1989, after having examined a broad range of options, the ACT Public Hospital Redevelopment Steering Committee unanimously concluded that: first, around 1,300 acute hospital beds would be required by the year 2000, with between 1,000 and 1,100 in public hospitals, depending on the number of private beds available. Secondly, the "one principal hospital" concept should be adopted to improve the quality of hospital services in the ACT. Thirdly, the Woden Valley Hospital should be developed as the principal hospital. Fourthly, the two main options for the development of associated community or general hospital facilities were: (a) an expansion of Calvary to its current capacity of 300 beds and closure of Royal Canberra Hospital, with the provision of alternative public health facilities on the site; or (b) maintenance of all existing hospital sites, with around 250 beds at Royal Canberra Hospital and about 150 beds at Calvary.
The previous Government released the steering committee's report for consultation and then announced its decision to proceed with the development of Woden Valley Hospital as the major focus for high level specialities with around 600 beds, retaining Royal Canberra with around 250 beds and Calvary with about 150 beds. This scheme involves a capital cost of around $200m to $210m.
This decision was extraordinary since it committed the people of Canberra to a capital cost well above what is sustainable. Even worse, it meant that presently excessive and unaffordable operating costs would be maintained into the foreseeable future. Also the Labor Government turned its back on the valuable contribution the private hospital sector could make in assisting governments to match public health expenditure with community needs.
The Alliance Government will not act in such an irresponsible way. We are determined to find a solution that provides a high quality outcome at a price the
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