Most clinical services on site

John Adams
John Adams
The new Dunedin Hospital should be able to provide most current clinical services on its central-city site, the chairman of the project’s clinical leadership group says.

In the plan, many current Dunedin Hospital services have been renamed or grouped into different categories, but the essential elements remained, Dr John Adams said.

"I think clinicians and planners have done a very good job together of establishing the foundation for the more detailed planning to come.

"We all accept this is a beginning, but what the plan shows is that what is needed can get on the site ... it is a really good demonstration that what we have talked about in the user group as being required can all fit, and now we have a really good idea of what it might all look like."

The clinical leadership group brings together medical professionals from throughout the hospital and it had considerable input into the master plan.

"The new build, in general terms, reflects what is in the current hospital," Dr Adams said.

"There may be some changes and some additional things, and likewise there have been some things which have moved out of the hospital campus, but in general terms the scope has been to reproduce the services on the current hospital site."

The plan issued yesterday was not final and several things were likely to change, Dr Adams said.

However, it was an essential starting point before clinicians started suggesting what their future workspaces might look like and what services they would provide there.

"Increasingly the clinicians on the ground, not just the CLG, will be involved talking with planners about what is needed and how to meet the overall Australasian standards ... and what they need to suit our local needs and requirements," Dr Adams said.

"We are also looking into the future — what are the models of care going to look like, not just in 10 years’ time but in 20, 25 years’ time?"

Maternity services were omitted from the master plan. The Southern District Health Board has been consulting on where to site a primary birthing unit in Dunedin and has yet to make a decision.

Some administration and mental health services now at Wakari Hospital are proposed to move to the new hospital.

SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming said the future of Wakari had not been determined.

mike.houlahan@odt.co.nz 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement