Royal inpatient shock
New hospital wing to supply just 44 more beds
THE $689 million redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital will deliver just 44 additional inpatient beds, it has been confirmed.
Documents obtained by the Mercury reveal the new KBlock will open amid a health crisis with a third of its potential bed capacity vacant.
The Government figures show the number of beds at the Royal will increase from 383 at present to 427 once the redevelopment is complete.
The new wing will open with about 270 empty “bed spaces” that the Government could fill — if it paid for them.
But last night Health Minister Sarah Courtney said: “KBlock will be filled from the migration of existing beds to this new ... building.”
“As existing services will be migrated to K-Block, this will free up current clinical spaces in other buildings and allow the Government to progress the $91 million Stage Two of the redevelopment without disrupting patients or staff,” she said, adding that the Government remained committed to its promise of 250 new beds over six years in the South.
The state’s hospital system has been struggling under increased demand, and the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine College found the Royal Hobart Hospital and Launceston General Hospital recorded the worst results of all hospitals in Australia for patient access block and 24-hour wait times.
Minister Sarah Courtney was grilled by Labor over KBlock’s opening date in Parliament yesterday — which she insisted was “imminent”.
“It will make significant changes for our health system, including 44 new beds, which will help address the access flow which we see at that hospital at the moment,” she said.
She said the hospital would be open soon: “The completion is now imminent with the final fit-out nearing completion.
“Once this occurs, the building will undergo vigorous inspection testing and defect rectification to ensure that it meets all specified requirements and is safe and fit for purpose.
“This will be followed by commissioning of services into K-Block which is on track for a February commencement.”
Labor health spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said the Government had no plan, no strategy and no vision. She said Minister Courtney had not given Tasmanians “any clarity on when the ... redevelopment will be complete, or what new capacity it will create”.
“The Royal is one of the worst performing in the country in terms of access block and emergency department waits of more than 24 hours,” she said.
“To date, Sarah Courtney’s only solution has been to point to the ‘imminent’ opening of 44 of the 250 promised additional beds at the Royal.”