Page 3358 - Week 09 - Thursday, 22 August 2019
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project. Health planning, legal and commercial advisors are all in the process of being appointed. The procurement process for design consultants will commence in the next few weeks.
Add to that the many staff in Canberra Health Services involved in the project, and it is clear that substantial resources are actively engaged in delivering this very important project. Enabling works are currently an area of focus, particularly the movement of service areas to enable demolition on the site for the project, after which the SPIRE project’s main construction works will commence.
In addition, work is under way to update models of care and functional briefs in consultation with CHS clinicians to ensure that we are providing the facilities that clinicians need to deliver health services for our community now and into the future.
MS CODY: Minister, what will SPIRE deliver for the Canberra community?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Cody for the supplementary. As our city continues to grow, so, too, does demand for health services. Territory-wide health services planning undertaken by the ACT Health Directorate aims to ensure that the healthcare needs of Canberrans are met today and into the future. An important part of this planning is the assessment and provision of infrastructure that will allow Canberra Health Services to continue to fulfil its goal of providing quality health care when and where it is needed.
As I mentioned, the SPIRE project is the largest healthcare infrastructure project being undertaken in the ACT. It will deliver a state-of-the-art emergency, surgical and critical healthcare facility on the Canberra Hospital campus. The SPIRE project will transform the Canberra Hospital campus and enhance the delivery of hospital-based health care in a modern and purpose-built facility. It will anchor future hospital campus planning and developments.
The SPIRE project will deliver 148 inpatient beds, including 60 intensive care unit beds and 24 coronary care unit beds; 22 operating theatres; 114 emergency treatment spaces; 55 day-surgery beds; integrated radiology and medical imaging facilities; 12 ambulance bays; a 10-bed short-stay mental health unit; two cardiac catheterisation laboratories; and patient, carer and staff spaces for respite, learning and meeting. Existing critical operations such as the helipad and emergency services area at the Canberra Hospital will continue to function during the build, uninterrupted by the SPIRE project.
The Health Directorate has also commenced work for the expansion of the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children. With these two projects underway, a Canberra Hospital master plan is being developed to help inform future development on the campus to serve the Canberra community.
MS CHEYNE: Minister, how is the government managing demand for health services prior to SPIRE’s completion?
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