New Royal Adelaide Hospital ‘could open in late 2017’

THE Health Minister says the new RAH will be “open when it is clinically safe to do so” despite claims from a prominent health reform opponent who says the opening could be late next year.

Site shots of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital from North Terrace. 23/02/16 Picture: Stephen Laffer

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HEALTH Minister Jack Snelling says the new Royal Adelaide Hospital will be “open when it is clinically safe to do so” despite claims from a Transforming Health opponent that it could be pushed back to mid-to-late next year.

It comes as The Advertiser revealed this week the new hospital would not be ready to open in November as scheduled and would now likely open next year.

Flinders University Emeritus Professor Warren Jones, the former head of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Flinders Medical Centre, said he believed the hospital would not open on time due to problems with the roll-out of the long-awaited electronic patient record system.

“We have been given no information about where these will be stored, or indeed, if there is room on the new Royal Adelaide Hospital site for even the ‘most recent’ patient volumes,” he said.

Prof Jones said he believed the “fresh developments” meant the hospital could not be opened until the electronic system, EPAS, was fully established.

“This pushes the opening date out to mid 2017 at the earliest ... and the need to avoid the flu season means that we may not see our brand new, but inordinately expensive hospital in action until September or October year,” he said.

Mr Snelling was quick to quash the claims but did not completely rule out the possibility of a late hospital opening.

“Our number one priority is safety,” he said.

“I stopped taking anything that Warren Jones said seriously a long time ago. He has spent much of the last 12 months personally slandering any clinician who has supported ways we can improve the health system.”