New Northside Hospital for Canberra

The ACT Government has released a report identifying the University of Canberra as their preferred site for the construction of the new Northside Hospital.
The ACT Government has indicated that there is a need to enhance public hospital facilities on the north side of Canberra to accommodate the growing health needs of our population over the next 20 years. The ACT Health Capital Asset Development Plan was developed as a blueprint for the redevelopment of the ACT health system.  A discussion paper on options for northside hospital services was issued in February 2011. As a result of that that process, the Government decided to building a stand-alone sub-acute facility in North Canberra. HCCA has been advocating for the establishment of a specialised sub-acute care facility for some time; this is reflected in our submission of November 2010 to the Government Standing Committee on Health, Community and Social Services Inquiry into Public Hospital Options as well as our response to the Government consultation on this matter in 2011.  The HCCA Submission is available online (160kb Pdf)
The HCCA has been very supportive of the decision to build  a sub acute hospital and has not seen a need to replicate The Canberra Hospital in North Canberra.  We have advocated that a sub-acute facility or community hospital, supported by primary health care centres around Canberra, would better meet the needs of the Canberra community. A community hospital with sub-acute and non-acute services will supplement the new enhanced primary health care centres. Planning for these centres is well developed with the new centres in Belconnen and Gunghalin expected to be opened in this year.  
The new Northside Hospital could be designed, built and staffed to provide rehabilitation services for people recovering after an operation (e.g. a hip replacement), an illness (e.g. a heart attack) or an injury (e.g. a fall or car accident). This would improve the potential for recovery as less time would be spent in an acute hospital (ie, Calvary or TCH). It could also include geriatric evaluation and management services, transition care and other step-up or step-down programs.
We have also suggested the facility could house a second secular hospice for the ACT and will participate in consultations with the Government for the review of the Palliative Care Strategy this year. 
The community recognises that people with serious mental illness need access to a range of treatment and support services, connected across the spectrum of care. We believe there is scope to include this in the development of the Hospital at the University of Canberra.  This would complement the successful step up step down facilities currently in place in the community.
A sub-acute facility on the University of Canberra grounds is vital to meet the needs of our community.   
The selection of the site is very important; it needs to be accessible, which means close to major transport routes. One of the failings of the Village Creek Rehabilitation Centre was the site selection.  The services, once you are inside the building, are excellent but being tucked away in a suburban setting has caused difficulty for some consumers and carers when accessing the Centre.  the University of Canberra is located to arterial roads and public transport, has sufficient area for dedicated parking, is close to the Belconnen Town Centre and is within easy travelling distance for people living in Gungahlin and the future Molonglo Valley development
In addition it would create valuable connections with the Faculty of Health Science and provide clinical placements for students in areas including, but not limited to, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy, physiotherapy and psychology.  We agree with the Government that the relationship should assist with staff recruiting and training, and should assist the university in undertaking health research.
The community wants assurance that decisions regarding the planning and design of our health system are taken on sound advice, based on identified clinical need and community needs and sound economic judgement.  We are satisfied with the range of issues the Government has considered in identifying the most appropriate site for the new hospital.
We look forward to being involved in the community discussion on the matter.

Darlene Cox
Executive Director

Expanding Hospital Services in the ACT - ACT Government discussion paper

The ACT Government has released a discussion paper on five options for enhancing hospital services in Canberra.  Each option would deliver an extra 400 beds and range in cost from about $690m to $795 million.  We are pleased to see that the HCCA proposal to include a sub-acute facility has been costed and included as an option (Option E).  Another option (B) is to consolidate services in a 'super hospital' at Woden but the Minister went on the record in early February saying that this is an unlikely option.

The discussion paper is a good start to the conversation and we encourage people to read the paper. This is available in the Community Consultation section of the ACT Health website. 

HCCA is interested to find out more about the type of beds that are being proposed.   We spoke with the ABC this week about this.  A story is available on the ABC website.

A six week consultation period will run from 25 February 2011 – 14 April 2011.  Community consultation fora will be announced soon.
 
This has been a long running issue.  The ACT Legislative Assembly referred to the Standing Committee on Health, Community and Social Services for inquiry and report the proposed four new options for future ownership and management arrangements of Calvary Public Hospital, put forward by the Minister for Health on 19 August 2010.  HCCA appeared before the Committee and made a submission (350 kb Pdf).  The Standing Committee will report to the the Legislative Assembly at the end of March.
 
HCCA is currently considering the discussion paper and will prepare a comprehensive response.  We are interested to hear your views.

A wish list for Canberra's Integrated Cancer Centre

This post has been adapted from a piece that Val Lee and Denis Strangman wrote together in November 2010.  At the time they served as HCCA cancer consumer representatives on official ACT advisory committees associated with the planning for the new Centre.

The architects are about to get their heads down and come up with plans for a new cancer centre to serve the ACT and surrounding regions.  Some preliminary sketches have been drawn up and planning meetings have been held.  It is very important that the Centre "gets it right" from the start and develops as a truly patient-centred facility.

The proposed location will be between the current radiation oncology area at Canberra Hospital, the emerging under-cover parking station, and behind the existing Psychiatric Services Unit, which will eventually have its own new building.

In an endeavour to identify the wishes of the Canberra community, particularly those who have used the cancer services recently and may do so in the future (which could include one in three of the population who might be affected by cancer), the Health Care Consumers Association of the ACT held a public meeting on 29 November. 

At this early stage of the design we have a basic wish list in mind.

First – the centre must be patient friendly and be designed around the convenience of the patient, particularly those who are visiting it in an unwell situation.

Second - it must be a pleasant environment, for the benefit of the patients and the staff. Canberra has an inherent difficulty in attracting skilled medical and radiation oncology staff, so the working environment needs to be a whole lot better than other cancer centres that are competing with us. We can’t bribe the weather bureau to falsify Canberra’s winter temperatures so we have to counter the pull of the sun and the surf by superior and generous working conditions.

Third – patients should not be asked to walk long distances to get from where they register to where they are treated. We understand that one key objective is to make it an “integrated” centre but it has to work around a fixed given and that is the bunkers where the Linac radiation therapy machines are located in their protected shells. These are fixed and cannot be moved.

Fourth – the patient information area must be close to where most patients and their carers will come for their consultations. The opportunity could be taken to integrate the patient education function with this facility so that there is a combined access to the disease-specific technical information and the relaxation and meditation resources which many patients specifically seek.

Fifth – patients must be capable of easily meeting with allied health staff and the cancer care co-ordinators. This is an expanding area within cancer services and the objective should be that eventually all cancer patients will be allocated to a care co-ordinator who can be a point of contact as they travel the cancer journey. At the present time some of those with the more intransigent cancers, such as brain tumours, are lacking access to care coordinators covering their cancer. Social workers should not be hidden away in some broom cupboard out of sight but should be easily reachable by patients. That area of assistance needs to be better resourced.

Sixth – the opportunity needs to be taken to reap the advantages of the E-health revolution. Because of our low population base the oncologists in Canberra need to be “generalists” and they do a fine job but much of the expertise of their more experienced colleagues is found interstate. Telemedicine facilities need to be an integral part of the design so that the Canberra staff can act as agents of disease-specific specialists located elsewhere, even on occasion in another country. Patients and their carers should be able to participate in these consultations.

Seventh – “quiet spaces” need to be built into the design where a patient and their carer can retire to and reflect on any challenging information which might have been given to them in a consultation. On occasion they might want a social worker, care coordinator, or pastoral care worker to be easily available.

Eighth – a small café should be integrated into the design, which is easily accessible by patients and their carers either from the chemotherapy or radiation oncology treatment areas. Some kind of call system spanning waiting rooms, the proposed cafe and the patient information area should be developed so that patients do not feel trapped into remaining fixed in a waiting room fearful that they will miss their “call”. These are mostly ambulatory out-patients. Perhaps they could be issued with location tags which tell the staff the general area where they are waiting.

Ninth – particular care needs to be taken for those patients whose immune system is compromised because of procedures they are undergoing, which might involve specific forms of access and isolation.

Tenth – because pathology results are an integral part of the cancer process and often determine a patient’s ability to receive chemotherapy, blood samples should be taken within the Centre, if at all possible.

The project managers and the architects for the new cancer centre are working to a tight schedule but the last thing anyone wants is a $28 million centre which looks new but has inherent design flaws which add unnecessary stress to the patient and their carers. The diagnosis of cancer and its treatment can be very stressful. Let’s do what we can to reduce stress levels for these people.

Sadly Val Lee died in January 2011. Val was a breast cancer survivor who provided peer support through Bosom Buddies for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Val certainly left her mark in the consumer movement and was a source of great comfort to many women when they needed a shoulder.


Denis is a former caregiver and provides peer support to newly diagnosed brain tumour patients and their carers by answering the national Freecall number provided by Brain Tumour Alliance Australia Inc.  He continues to advocate for consumer and carer interest in the development of the Cancer Centre.

Integrated Cancer Centre Consultation

What do you want from the new ACT Integrated Cancer Centre?

Do you have ideas on how the cancer centre can work well for patients?

What sort of space would be comfortable for patients, carers, families and support groups?

Architects are coming up with plans for the new cancer centre to serve the ACT and surrounding regions and consumers are invited to have their input at this design stage.

It is very important we help the Cancer Centre “get it right” from the start and ensure it develops as a truly patient-centered facility.

Come to a meeting to have your views taken into account!

When: Monday, 29 November 2010

12:30pm-2:30pm

Where: HCCA Office

100 Maitland Street

Hackett ACT 2602

RSVP:02 6230 7800

A third hospital for Canberra?

Negotiations are underway between the ACT Government and the Little Company of Mary on the sale of the hospital infrastructure at the Bruce campus.

Today the Chief Minister spoke about the possibility of buidling a new hostpial if the negotations with LCM fall through.

But is a third hospital in the best  interests of consumers?  


We want access to safe, quality and appropriate services but are not convinced that a third hospital will provide that to our community.

We are concerned that building a third hospital and cost of maintaining three hospitals will have a negative impact on money available to community based services. There are not enough health dollars to service the current demand.  


The Government has a large program of works on infrastructure and redesigning health services underway based on moving many services to the community.  We support the move to community based health services.

We call upon the government to commit to a focus on primary health care. We are concerned that having three public hospitals in Canberra will not get us closer to achieving that.

We are supportive of the new nurse led walk in centre that is opening in May.  We are also very supportive of enhanced community health centres such as the new centres planned for Belconnen, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong.  We would hate to see funds diverted from community based services to pay for a third hospital.