21 November 2022
Planning for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital (nWCH) will intensify after a preliminary but significant milestone in the project’s journey was achieved last week.
Legislation – which will allow the Labor Government to build the $3 billion nWCH at the Thebarton Police Barracks site – passed State Parliament late on Wednesday, November 16.
With the barracks site given the green light, the ANMF (SA Branch) will continue to be the voice for nurses and midwives during the design process.
What do we know so far? The proposal includes an additional 50 beds to the pre-election allocation of an additional 20 beds to allow for growth and future capacity requirement.
Overall, the revised hospital plans will now have 414 beds compared to 338 beds at the existing site at North Adelaide.
The ANMF (SA Branch) will work collaboratively with the State Government and regularly consult with its members during the planning process.
We are advocating for direct input into the project from directly affected clinicians; specifically nurses and midwives. We know that our members are integral in the design process of the project and we will be ensuring that their voices are heard throughout.
CEO/Secretary Adj Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM said the planning process should also include strategies to retain and attract staff.
“We are really pleased that clinicians will be involved in the decision-making process in the lead-up to the eventual build,” Ms Dabars said on radio station FiveAA.
“The new Women’s and Children’s Hospital will not open for several years so in the intervening period we need to not only maintain but build the current nursing and midwifery workforce.”
A Workforce Planning Group – formed in response to our concerns – aims to develop recommendations for short-term initiatives, identify and agree on priorities for the next 12 months, and determine a planning going forward.
And there is a commitment within the public sector Enterprise Agreement – which was voted for by our members last week – to develop new strategies, entitlements and provisions around retention recognition and staffing.
“We have been talking about workforce for a very long time but in the past six months we have been far more positive about the potential for productive and beneficial dialogue with the Government,” Ms Dabars said.
“It does not matter how good your building or facilities are if you have not addressed the need to build and maintain that workforce.”