Better Health For Hunter Region

Newcastle Herald

Wednesday May 30, 2001

Katherine McGrath

WE'RE in the midst of one of the busiest times for health in the Hunter, planning new ways of providing health services as well as planning for new facilities better suited to the provision of modern health services.

We hope to see the plans come to fruition over the next seven years.

A number of major initiatives will deliver significant improvements to health services for Hunter people and also have a significant impact on the business community.

These improvements will involve better health facilities in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, partnerships with GPs and planning for better rural health. They will also provide an economic boost to the Hunter.

Plans for better health facilities are generating the most interest in the community.

With government funding from the State Budget we will have in place by 2007:

* An upgraded Belmont Hospital, including a new emergency department.

* A new bone and joint institute on the John Hunter campus providing the inpatient services currently provided from Royal Newcastle Hospital.

* A polyclinic in the Newcastle central business district.

* A new Mater Hospital.

So, what does this mean for each facility?

It means a $28million upgrade of Belmont Hospital, including a new emergency department, refurbished wards, operating theatres and extended inpatient facilities and more outpatient, perioperative and rehabilitation services.

It will also increase inpatient beds from 84 to 120 and allow the relocation of the detoxification service from Wallsend campus to Belmont.

It means the construction on the John Hunter campus of a $108million institute, now known as the Bone and Joint Institute (although the name will almost certainly change). This new facility will provide a world class home for the world class services currently provided from Royal Newcastle Hospital, with room for some additional services as well.

These include bone and joint, urology, opthalmology, dermatology and ambulatory care services, 96 inpatient beds in conventional wards and an interventional suite. This comprises a cluster of specialist diagnostic and procedural facilities such as operating rooms, cardiac catheterisation laboratories, angiography and endoscopy procedure rooms and imaging facilities.

These will incorporate the latest state-of-the-art technology for elective surgery, cardiac angioplasty and diagnostic services.

A medical centre for outpatient clinics will also be provided and in addition we will need to put in a new 700 place car park and will be seeking retail, accommodation and medical suite developments to support the new facilities.

It means an $18million inner-city polyclinic for Newcastle, similar to the Toronto Polyclinic but uniquely addressing the needs of Newcastle.

This facility will provide a range of services, some of which are not currently available within the CBD. The polyclinic will be located in Hunter St, between Darby and National Park streets.

It will provide an after-hours general practice for city and inner suburban residents and be home to community health, sexual health, diabetes, counselling, aged care, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, speech pathology, child and family care and dental services, among others.

There will also be a new $80million Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital with a new emergency department, new inpatient wards and new treatment areas for cancer and blood disorders.

There will also be a stronger partnership between Hunter Health and the Mater Hospital via a memorandum of understanding between NSW Health and the Sisters of Mercy (who own the hospital). This understanding will underpin what services the hospital provides with Hunter Health funding.

These better health facilities will complement a number of significant improvements to health facilities already planned or under way including:

* A $17.3million home for Hunter Area Pathology Service on the John Hunter campus.

* NBN Telehealth Centre within the new pathology building.

* NBN Children's Cancer Research Centre within John Hunter Hospital.

* $4.9million refurbishment of Rankin Park Unit, home to aged care and rehabilitation services on the John Hunter campus.

* $10.6million new emergency department at John Hunter Hospital.

* $3.1million Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit on the John Hunter campus.

* Better carparking on John Hunter campus ? including construction of an additional 150 spaces with disabled access lift from August this year.

That's a package of $271million in capital works development for Hunter Health over the next six years.

Good for health and good for the economy.

I would like to pay tribute to the many key people and groups that have supported Hunter Health in its mission.

First, the Minister for Health, Mr Craig Knowles, who I know has gone in to bat for the Hunter on this project; our hard-working board, chaired by David Evans and previously by Carol Abela; Brian McGuigan and his colleagues on the Mater Hospital Board along with the Sisters of Mercy and the members of the Health Review Committee.

I would also like to thank the Newcastle media, especially the Newcastle Herald and our elected members of Parliament who have all publicly supported the Newcastle strategy.

As well, community groups such as the Belmont Watchdog Committee and Chamber of Commerce, the Newcastle East Residents Group and many others lent great public support.

This outcome is a result of a great team effort by Novocastrians for the great benefit of their local community.

And last, but very importantly, I'd like to thank Hunter Health staff, including those involved in the planning and consultation of this strategy, but especially those staff whose daily work will be affected by these developments ? thank you for having the courage to embrace a new future.

But good buildings are not the only ingredient for excellence in health care.

In the Hunter we are very proud of our tradition of innovation and we in health are working to address some of the fundamental problems with the Australian health scene.

In partnership with the Hunter Urban Division of General Practice (HUDGP), we are working to resolve the barriers caused by having two funding systems for health, the Commonwealth Medicare system and the State funded hospital system.

Traditionally, there were hospitals with specialists providing specialist and emergency care and general practitioners in the community, but there was often very little interaction between these two vital cogs in the health care wheel.

This gap has long been recognised and we're working to address it.

The partnership and ongoing collaboration between the Hunter Urban Division of General Practice and Hunter Health is being recognised and applauded at a national level.

Together with HUDGP, we are developing a new patient-centred `Healthshare' concept to ensure better communication and, ultimately, patient care through links between hospitals, GPs, community health services, specialist doctors, homecare services, non-government organisations and aged care providers.

This is practical recognition that all of these services are inextricably linked in the care of patients depending on their age and illness.

We hope that the first project under this model will be the roll out of the after-hours GP service across five sites in the Hunter, side-by-side with Hunter Health facilities.

The other major project Hunter Health is undertaking this year is the Better Rural Health Plan.

We have embarked, for only the second time, on a large-scale community consultation process to look at health services and facilities available in our rural communities.

Ultimately, we want to provide more services close to people's homes and more outreach speciality services into rural communities.

We also want to provide support services and facilities to attract and retain doctors, nurses and allied health staff in these communities as well as the facilities that meet modern health service needs.

All these things will provide the Hunter with better health services and the latest technology for people all over the region. It will mean more accessible health services and better communication between the groups whose business is the health and wellbeing of us all.

More than $271million will be spent on capital works over seven years and commercial opportunities will be provided for business ? for example, retail facilities, pharmacy, private medical suites, food outlets and carparks.

It will also play a major role in the revitalisation of the Newcastle Central Business District.

It certainly is a busy but also very exciting time for health in the Hunter. Professor Katherine McGrath is the chief executive officer of Hunter Health. This article is based on an address she presented yesterday at Newcastle Business Club.

© 2001 Newcastle Herald

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