‘Deeply flawed’ Qld Health infrastructure plan to be redrawn, leaving 1500 hospital beds in limbo

Qld’s flagship health infrastructure plan has been ripped up and redrawn after a damning report prompted a full-scale replan of nearly every major hospital project, causing years of delays.

Infrastructure specialist Sam Sangster. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

• Analysis: You’re the biggest loser
• Editorial: Just one massive lie

Queensland’s flagship health infrastructure plan has been ripped up and redrawn after a damning report prompted a full-scale replan of nearly every major hospital project.

The long-awaited Sangster review has revealed the former Palaszczuk Labor government bungled the planning of the $9.8bn Capital Expenditure Program hospital program in 2022, cutting planning corners and announced hospital projects without business cases.

Of the 15 projects, 14 were incorrectly scoped and underfunded, with the program now facing years of delays and a $7bn blowout.

Labor did not reject the findings, arguing the need to get beds online “as quickly as possible” after the Covid pandemic was more important than thorough planning.

At least seven project contracts will need to be retendered or renegotiated – the Queensland-first Cancer Centre and the Toowoomba, Coomera, Bundaberg, Redcliffe, Mackay and Prince Charles hospital projects – pausing the delivery of more than 1500 beds.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls says the government’s new delivery plan will be carefully constructed to avoid further blowouts and delays, with the promise of at least 2600 beds compared to Labor’s 2200.

Read our editorial on the issue here and join in the discussions in the comments

Health Minister Tim Nicholls with a copy of the government’s Hospital Rescue Plan. Picture: Tertius Pickard

But he has refused to be held to a delivery timeline or reveal which hospitals will be prioritised in the LNPs first budget.

“I don’t want to be held to a time, because I think that’s the problem that we’ve seen with the previous government,” he said.

“We are taking the time to replan and re-budget for these matters … and we’ll be making the funding announcements in the 2025-26 Budget.”

The hospital build program has blown out by $7bn, which Mr Nicholls conceded would put a “real strain on the government’s budget”.

The new delivery plan was released showing delays of between 6 months and 3 years for all 15 projects, however no final costings are attached to the projects most of which will be rescoped.

Prince Charles Hospital will have a multistorey car park by the end of 2025, the Hervey Bay Hospital expansion will be complete in 2026 and Cairns Hospital will gain 64 new beds by 2027.

Construction of the new Toowoomba Hospital at the Baillie Henderson Hospital campus. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Logan Hospital expansion is slated for completion in 2027 and the Ipswich, Princess Alexandra and QEII Hospital expansions by 2028.

Infrastructure specialist Sam Sangster was commissioned in December to conduct the review.

It found all 15 hospital projects had been planned within just six weeks and were missing critical assets including power networks, fire systems, kitchens, carparking and operating theatres without sterilising departments.

Mr Sangster said his review showed market conditions were blatantly ignored and project budgets were undercooked, with concerns ignored as projects were quickly ticked off.

“The market conditions at the time were very much known, in my view, and the budgets, I would suggest, were probably lower than they should have been at the time,” he said.

The new Bundaberg Hospital.

“But probably most importantly, because of that fast-paced planning exercise, a number of important elements were not covered.

“There has been a range of people inside and outside of government that have tried to provide advice that perhaps this approach wasn’t the right way to go. And certainly through my review I heard that repeatedly, that people didn’t feel listened to.”

According to the report, several projects were announced by the former government without business cases.

Contracts for four expansions were awarded in September on the eve of the government caretaker period saw a 75 per cent budget increase.

Opposition Health spokesman Mark Bailey said Mr Sangster’s criticisms of Labor’s rushed planning was “his opinion” and said Labor made no apologies for its “laser focus” on alleviating pressures on hospitals.

The projects were planned as well as they could possibly be at the time,” he said.

“We had a think of a global pandemic where Queensland managed the situation better than the other states, we saw a huge level of interstate migration.

“So we needed to start building more beds as quickly as we possibly can … in a hot market where there’s a lot of construction under way.

“The choice then was to not expand our hospital and health system, and that was unacceptable to us.”

Opposition health spokesman Mark Bailey. Photo Steve Pohlner

He demanded the government release the draft Sangster report, accusing Premier David Crisafulli of politicising the review to his advantage ahead of the budget.

“Premier (David) Crisafulli said there would be no health cuts, his words, no one made him say that and yet today, we see the government ducking, weaving from that election commitment,” he said.

Mr Nicholls rejected that the government had broken a key election promise to deliver 2200 beds by 2028.

Artist impression of the new Coomera Public Hospital. Picture: Supplied by Queensland state government.

Hospital parking spaces were also forecast to cost up to six times the market rate for multistorey park across all hospital proposals. It meant each car park space would cost between $80,000 and $250,000, compared with averages of $40,000 to $60,000.

Mr Bailey said car parks were “absolutely fundamental” for hospital functionality.

“They were part of the expansion plan and of course, when you build multi level car parks, it opens up expansion spaces for the construction of new wings and new beds,” he said.

Asked why it market conditions were ignored to issue quick contracts, Mr Bailey said it was “was necessary to get the work done as quickly as we can”.

“It doesn’t mean every single person involved in the internal process is going to get what they want,” he said.

Industry think tank Infrastructure Partnerships Australia said all 15 projects released under Labor had been “little more than a mirage of media releases”.

“It would require a 600 per cent increase in skill and trade,” chief executive Adrian Dwyer said.

“The (LNP) government is committed to delivering those projects, we expect that those trade requirements will continue to exist.

“The question now is the time frames that they’re delivered over, and therefore the capacity for market to deliver.”

Mr Sangster has been hired to oversee the implementation of the government’s revised hospital build plan over the next 12 months.

Then-Queensland Premier Steven Miles and then-Health Minister Shannon Fentiman during a visit to the Coomera Hospital project site. Picture: Dan Peled

Originally published as ‘Deeply flawed’ Qld Health infrastructure plan to be redrawn, leaving 1500 hospital beds in limbo