What does it take to build a new hospital for our regional Queenslanders? It’s more than just bricks and mortar.
More than 100 Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service (WBHHS) staff attended around 30 design workshops throughout October to share their specialist expertise and experience with project architects to help design the new hospital, with both patient and staff needs front of mind.
Local consumers and emergency services were also engaged and played an important role in the design process participating in several of the workshops alongside staff.
WBHHS Chief Executive, Debbie Carroll, said engaging with all types of users provided valuable and ongoing insight at every step of the process, so that the best patient outcomes could be achieved.
“We are currently in a phase called schematic design – this phase focusses on room positioning within each department, ensuring clear patient and staff flows, and understanding how the delivery of consumables and the collection and disposal of waste will occur,” Debbie said.
“Our staff and consumers are very engaged and dedicating a lot of their time and valuable feedback to the architects to make sure we get the design right.
“The new Bundaberg Hospital is a game changing project for our region – the largest health infrastructure investment the region has ever seen.”
Bringing her own experience as the Emergency Department Staff Specialist at Bundaberg Hospital, Dr Bellice Olima, attended the second design workshop for the new hospital’s Emergency Department.
Connecting ideas and functionality together to not only ensure the best patient outcomes, but also for hospital staff, was an important outcome for the emergency physician.
“It's important for us to be listened to, I think that's a big thing when you feel that disconnect between the people creating the working conditions and the people in the working conditions,” Dr Olima said.
“The fact that we are actually advocating for our patients, I think is a big thing.”
Clinical Director of Paediatrics, Dr Matt Wakeley, said he was excited to see plans for the new hospital include a greater provision of single rooms to enhance patient comfort and privacy.
“We've got capacity for individual patient rooms which provide so much more privacy than what they're currently experiencing in the hospital, (allowing) us to deliver intimate care for the patients and what they need at the bedside, rather than having to compromise their care by challenges around their current spaces,” Dr Wakeley said.
“One of the things we're most excited about with this new hospital is that in our emergency department we've now got a dedicated paediatric treatment space… which I think is going to make for a better experience for our paediatric patients and for their families.
“Another exciting part about the new hospital is the development of an adolescent ward within our medical areas; this allows us to develop a care model which is bespoke to patients in this critical transition period between paediatric care and adult care.
“That's an exciting new development for the hospital that really doesn't exist elsewhere in regional Queensland.”
Emergency Department Nursing Unit Manager, Suzanne Smith, also provided important input into the design and flow of the department.
“Everything's full pace now and we've been heavily involved in the flow-through the emergency department, like the relationships of the resuscitation based at ambulance, short stay, and catering for our frail and elderly in the emergency department as well.”
Bundaberg local Jan Baldock also participated in the design workshop for the new emergency department as a consumer representative.
“We're the ones that are experiencing the care. To be able to have an opinion about any aspect of this new build, is quite an honour, really.”
Once schematic design is complete, the project will move into the detailed design phase (sometimes referred to as design development) early next year, which adds another layer of detail looking at specific room layouts – from the positioning of beds to power point locations. It also includes developing a complete list of technology, furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
Main construction works for the new $1.2 billion Bundaberg Hospital development project are due to start in 2024, subject to relevant planning approvals.