Health Minister Jack Snelling confirms construction of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital delayed by seven weeks

A FINISH date for the construction of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital has been announced — and it’s later than expected.

• New RAH misses first formal deadline
• Move to new RAH will be a ‘trainwreck’
• Worker crushed to death at new RAH site

CONSTRUCTION of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital will not be finished until late May — seven weeks later than expected, the State Government has confirmed.

Health Minister Jack Snelling said the delay would mean the State Government would be “cutting it very fine” to meet the planned opening date of November 30.

Mr Snelling told Parliament that technical completion of the new hospital will not be reached until May 25. It was set for April 4.

“Seven weeks late will cut it very, very fine when it comes to moving into the hospital by November,” Mr Snelling said.

“We’d be pushing up against it.

“If it is longer than seven weeks I think it unlikely that we would meet that end of November deadline.

“(But) we will move into the new RAH when it is ready and safe to do so, and for no other reason.”

SA Health Partnership, on behalf of the builder, said the delay had been caused by “slower than anticipated progress during the commissioning and completion activities, combined with the need to undertake rework on levels three and nine” of the hospital.

SAHP CEO Duncan Jewell said extra staff had been brought on site and “every effort” was being made to finish construction “in a timely and safe manner”.

Mr Snelling said the Government was still gauging the impact the delay would have on commissioning and testing of the new hospital, training of staff, equipment delivery and stocking the new building.

He said the Government was seeking independent advice to ensure the delay would not be longer than suggested.

“The state is currently obtaining its own independent technical and assurance advice on this latest delay, including whether the submitted (timeline) ... accurately reflects the progress of the works,” Mr Snelling said.

Mr Snelling said he understood the project could be running late, but he was frustrated by the impact the information was having on hospital relocation plans.

“I don’t have an enormous amount of confidence in the information that they’re giving us,” he told ABC 891 Adelaide.

“Particularly because it’s coming so late.”

“We’ve got staff at the Royal Adelaide Hospital who still have uncertainty about when they can take leave.”

The Government will not begin paying a $1 million a day service payment for the hospital until construction is completed.

Mr Snelling said this meant the Government would save money on the delay. However it will have to pay to operate the existing RAH for longer.

The Government was advised of the delay by the builder on Monday afternoon.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said the delay was “completely and utterly unacceptable”.

“Who is monitoring this project on behalf of the State Government?” Mr Marshall said.

“The fact that they’ve only just found out that there’s a massive further delay in the project ... speaks to the complete incompetence of the management of health in South Australia at the moment.”

Mr Marshall did not directly say the Government should pursue further financial penalties for the builder.

In late January, Mr Snelling told The Advertiser the government had been warned by its own monitors that the technical completion date for the new hospital, set for early April, was likely to be pushed back by up to two months.

The new Royal Adelaide Hospital from North Tce. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

At the time, Mr Snelling said the building consortium remained “adamant” it would meet the April deadline, but consultants tracking the project for the government had warned there would likely be a further delay.

Mr Snelling insisted then that the hospital would still open to patients by November 30 but there would be less time to test the new facility and install or move all the necessary equipment.