New RAH won’t open to patients for possibly months after SA Health takes over, confidential documents show
EXCLUSIVE: A confidential new RAH master plan shows it won’t open to patients for possibly months after SA Health takes ownership — raising fears it will be at the height of flu season, causing more delays.
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THE confidential master plan for the move to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital shows it will not open to patients for weeks, and possibly months, after SA Health takes ownership — raising concerns it will be at the height of the flu season, causing further delays.
The massive logistical task of moving patients into the $2.3 billion complex comes amid multiple other phases, including decommissioning the existing RAH, a document obtained by The Advertiser shows.
The project is now in the 90-day facility transition period (FTP), following technical completion on March 15.
The State Government is ensuring the hospital is safe, operational and fit for purpose.
This period is also being used to shift tonnes of equipment into the hospital, bring thousands of staff in for familiarisation tours of the huge facility, and 20 dress-rehearsal emergency scenarios ranging from major casualty situations to an infectious disease outbreak.
If all is deemed acceptable, it will result in commercial acceptance, when SA Health takes ownership of the hospital from the builder.
This could be on June 13 at the earliest. However, commercial acceptance will be pushed back if problems are found and government inspectors judge the hospital is not yet fit for purpose.
The “Activation Pathway” document shows that there will be a four-week physical relocation period, which should begin a month before patients are moved into the new hospital.
The process could start before commercial acceptance, or some weeks or months after — depending on the date authorities choose for the hospital opening.
This could mean the move would be slated for the peak of flu season.
Health Minister Jack Snelling said he would take advice from medical experts about the best time to move into the new hospital.
“As I’ve repeatedly said, we’ll move into the new Royal Adelaide Hospital when it’s clinically safe to do so,” he said.
Mr Snelling is on leave from today until April 28, during the school holidays.
Liberal health spokesman Stephen Wade said he was “surprised” that Mr Snelling would take time off during the “complex process” of testing the new facility.
SA Health’s executive director of nRAH activation, Paul Lambert, said the “Activation Pathway” was developed for staff to “outline what needs to be achieved and when”.
“More specific dates will be assigned to these phases once we know when the patient move will occur,” he said.
“Moving the RAH from one site to another is an enormous task that requires detailed planning and preparation.
“There are a number of activities that need to be completed before, during and after the move, but until an opening date is set, the time frames for these are fluid.”
Mr Wade said the transition to the nRAH “is not just $640 million over-budget and 15 months overdue, it is emerging as a clear risk to patient safety”.
About 80 per cent of equipment in the nRAH will be new but 20 per cent of vital, expensive medical machinery such as MRIs and PET scanners, will come from the RAH — and some cannot be moved while the RAH is operational.
As well as biomedical equipment, professional removalists will be called in to shift more mundane items as the 7000 staff and volunteers prepare to move workplaces.
This physical relocation will take place at the same time as the ramp down project — emptying the RAH of as many patients as possible to minimise the number of critically ill patients who need to be ferried down North Tce by ambulance.
The ramp down will see all non-urgent work diverted to other hospitals and elective surgery delayed as the RAH gradually winds down to a point it is only treating critically ill patients.
The ramp down and physical relocation will overlap the most sensitive part of the operation — the clinical move.
This is the safe, physical transfer of the remaining patients in the RAH to the nRAH, when the hospital finally opens.
The masterplan timeline indicates this may be many weeks after the possible commercial acceptance date of June 13.
Officials have repeatedly declined to give a firm opening date, noting any problems found during the FTP may delay commercial acceptance, while Mr Snelling says he will be guided by expert advice on when it is safe to shift patients — and that may hinge on the flu season.
When the clinical move does get the green light, emergency services including police, ambulance and transport officials will be integral to ensuring the cavalcade of ambulances up North Tce with sick patients is done safely with minimal disruption.
The 7000 staff and volunteers will also pack their bags, turn off their screens and bid farewell to the RAH for the final time in this phase.
The RAH decommissioning will continue throughout this move and well beyond, with tasks including securing confidential documents, accounting for pharmaceuticals, disposing of waste and linen, and ensuring medical records are accounted for and secured.
— with Lauren Novak