State election 2018: Libs pledge three Oakden replacement facilities

THREE specialist aged care facilities for South Australians with severe mental health conditions would be built in metropolitan Adelaide under a Liberal government.

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THREE specialist aged care facilities for South Australians with severe mental health conditions would be built in Adelaide under a Liberal government.

Liberal Leader Steven Marshall said the new facilities were needed to deal with the “crisis in care“ for South Australians with severe dementia caused by the closure of the Oakden nursing home.

Mr Marshall said he would “do a deal” with ACH Group to retain Ward 18 at the Repatriation General Hospital, which would be one of the “hubs” established by the Liberals.

ACH Group had come to terms with the State Government to undertake a $200m redevelopment at the site, but Mr Marshall said it had “not concluded” as it had not been signed off on before the Government went into caretaker mode.

“The deal for the Repat and ACH has not concluded. We want to repurpose this current 30 bed ward for tier five and tier six dementia patients here in South Australia,” Mr Marshall said.

South Australian Liberal Leader Steven Marshall has pledged to build three aged care homes for people with severe mental health conditions, if elected on March 17. AAP Image/David Mariuz.

But Premier Jay Weatherill said a deal regarding the site “has been signed” with ACH.

“What remains to be settled is the masterplan. The Government is not going to resile from its position which is it insists that it remains a health precinct,” he said.

However, Mr Weatherill said he was not “get into the legal advice about the binding nature of the agreement”.

The Liberal plan involves another facility for tier seven dementia patients being built on the Repat site.

The initial construction cost of the plan is $14m, but Mr Marshall said further bed announcements would be made.

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Mr Marshall said the Government had “sat on its hands” and not progressed plans to build a new 24-bed facility, set to replace the condemned Oakden facility.

Most patients from Oakden have been sent to the Government-run Northgate facility, but it’s yet to take on new patients.

“The closure of Oakden resulted in the loss of 62 beds for patients — so far, only 16 of those beds have been replaced at Northgate,” he said.

“The Northgate facility caters for less than 10 per cent of South Australians with high levels of BPSD (behavioural and physical symptoms of dementia).

Waiting for the Government to fulfil its vague promise to locate, design and build an aged care facility for people with BPSD is a recipe for disaster.”

Premier Jay Weatherill said the Government had already committed $14.7m to build a new specialist aged care and mental health facility.

Mr Weatherill said a location was yet to be chosen and he did not rule out the Repat site.

He would only say that the eventual site should be “central”.

“We’re choosing a site that’s best suited to its needs and we’ll be making an announcement about that soon,” he said.

The Government’s planned facility would comprise one central home and three regional sites for patients with “the next level down” of need, Mr Weatherill said.

He added that plans were “well advanced”.

“We’re at the stage now where we’ll be taking the matter out to a tender process,” he said.