Royal Hobart Hospital building woes

The Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment has been dogged by delays since its inception. Health Minister Sarah Courtney has been saying since last year the K-Block opening is “imminent”, a word most people understand to mean “very soon”.

OPENING a major new hospital facility should be one of those public relations moments any government dreams of.

But the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment has been dogged by bad news and delays from the moment it was first conceived.

It has taken two governments, four health ministers, five premiers, 14 years and $690 million dollars to deliver a facility that will add just 44 extra beds to the state’s health system.

It’s four years late, tens of millions of dollars over its original budget and it’s still not open yet.

The largest health infrastructure project ever undertaken in Tasmania was once underwhelmingly sold to Tasmanians as “the best hospital development the state can afford”.

Rebuilding on the same site while it was still operating was always going to be tricky.

The RHH was established in 1804, and a two-storey, 48-bed brick building was erected on the present site almost exactly 200 years ago.

Royal Hobart Hospital Argyle Street entrance. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Labor first announced in 2006 a new hospital would be built in Hobart or North Hobart to meet increasing demand. The vacant railyards at Macquarie Point emerged as the preferred site.

But that plan was abandoned in 2009 as the global financial crisis hit and Tasmanians were told they would probably have to wait 20 years for a replacement.

The current plan emerged in 2010, with a funding agreement of $225 million from the state and $361 million from the Commonwealth. Completion was set for 2016.

The newly elected Liberals put the project on ice and a review was conducted in 2014.

An unsolicted bid for a $1 billion hospital and hotel on the waterfront was rejected around the same time.

The RHH Redevelopment Rescue Taskforce rebooted the project and set a budget of $657 million, later revised to $698 million.

Completion was set for the end of 2018, pushed back to August 2019, before a further delay to October, then Christmas.

The problems kept coming: a $300,000 hyperbaric chamber fell off a forklift, asbestos was found at the site, mould was uncovered in prefabricated buildings, construction dust caused problems and plasterers walked off the job after not being paid

In June, then Health Minister Michael Ferguson said practical completion was expected in September “with some services expected to be migrated by the end of this calendar year”.

He predicted the movement of major inpatient services in February.

Mr Ferguson was sacked later that month and was replaced by Sarah Courtney.

Ms Courtney has been saying since October last year the K-Block opening was “imminent” a word most people understand to mean “very soon”.

The alternate deadline, February, is fast slipping by, though there’s an extra day in the shortest month this year because of a leap year.

The latest hiccup for the RHH Redevelopment has been the discovery of lead in the K-Block water supply.

Plumbing at the hospital has been a recurring theme. Managing contractors John Holland-Fairbrother sacked based AMS Hydraulics as plumbing contractor for the project in February last year.

The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union says a sample it took recorded the presence of lead at nearly three times the recommended levels for drinking water.

Health minister Sarah Courtney said at the time the redevelopment team was considering a request to declare practical completion of K-Block.

But the government is saying it won’t take the keys to the building until it is “fit for purpose”.

Demolition work being undertaken at the Royal Hobart Hospital Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Premier Peter Gutwein says the government is “hopeful” they can move in by the end of the month. He won’t say what the problem is.

“In terms of any big build like this there are always matters that need to be worked through,” he said this week.

Lead contamination of the drinking water caused three years of delays and $115 million in extra costs for the new Perth Children’s Hospital, which was due to open in 2015.

Identifying the cause of the problem was delayed because the WA state government dragged its heels accepting practical completion of the site.

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Corroding brass fittings were found to be the major source of the lead. Remedial work was required and a report blamed the building contractor John Holland.

Under the RHH redevelopment contract, there is a provision for the government to claim damages of $17,000 per day 30 days after the date for practical completion.

After 60 days after the date for practical completion, damages of $35,000 a day apply.

That’s another topic the government doesn’t want to talk about.

Minister Michael Ferguson tours the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment with Staff Specialist Anaesthetist, Clinical Lead for Trauma Sandy Zalstein. Including the Heli-pad and one of the new operating theaters. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

In November last year, John Holland launched a $300 million lawsuit case for outstanding payments from the West Australian government over the Perth Childrens' Hospital build.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the public deserves to know what’s going on.

“The brand new build at the Royal Hobart Hospital is empty, apparently unusable and public haven’t be been told why,” she said his week.

“Given the Premier’s characteristic lack of openness with Tasmanians, this refusal to say why K-Block is empty feeds cynicism and suspicion about why, when the need is so urgent, new facilities remain closed. Is it the money that will be needed to pay extra staff?”

Labor’s Sarah Lovell said the public had the right to know what was going on.

“We want to know why the government hasn’t taken possession of the building, given it’s been cleared for handover for some months,’ she said.

“We want to know what issues the government thinks justify not taking over the building and what they plan to do to resolve them.

“We want to know when the hospital will be open, how many new beds there will be and whether the government is able to pay to staff those new beds.

“There are only two options here – the building is ready or it’s not. Every day that the new building is not open, Tasmanians continue to suffer.

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Sarah Courtney said the government was proud of its record of investment in health.

“It took a Liberal Government to rescue the Royal Redevelopment in 2014 and we are working towards commencing operational commissioning this month,” she said,

“While Labor can criticise from the sidelines, the history books will show that they had their opportunity to deliver and failed, and for more than a decade they never even laid a brick on the redevelopment. The Labor party should apologise to Tasmanians for its significant under-investment and lack of delivery, and rather than complaining, offer an alternative plan.”