Nurses fear RAH is being allowed to run down as delays dog new RAH

AS the State Government saves $1 million a day because of ongoing delays with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, nurses say the existing RAH is being neglected.

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AS the State Government saves $1 million a day because of ongoing delays with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, nurses say the existing RAH is being neglected.

The $1 million daily payments to the SA Health Partnership to run the hospital for the next 30 years were expected to start last April. Repeated delays now mean the $2.3 billion flagship hospital is unlikely to open before next year.

Annual payments to build and operate the new hospital will rise from $396 million under the agreement to $478 million in the final year of the contract, 2045-46.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation accused the State Government of allowing the RAH to run down while waiting. SA branch secretary Adjunct Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars said regardless of non-payments to contractors, the Government should maintain the RAH to an appropriate standard.

“Of particular concern is reports that lifts are not being maintained, and insufficient chairs for patients and visitors in rooms,” she said. “It is an obvious safety and security concern.”

The Advertiser understands the RAH annual maintenance budget is more than $7 million, in line with previous years. Chief operating officer of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Todd McEwan said: “We continue to monitor and maintain all equipment to ensure patient and staff safety.”

Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said: “For years the Government has been neglecting the RAH, allowing it to crumble. The rolling delays in the construction in the nRAH mean the risk of the neglect has come home to roost: patient care is undermined, costs escalate.”