Senior medical staff say the redevelopment of St George Hospital is only “only half done”, and are seeking to have the next stage accelerated.
Some outpatient services at the hospital are still being provided from demountable “tin sheds” and very old buildings.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced in the state budget funding to plan stage three of the redevelopment, but no figure or timeline for the work was given.
In addition, $4 million was allocated to add another two decks to the multi-storey car park in Gray Street
Chair of the hospital’s medical staff council, Associate Professor Theresa Jacques, said construction of the $277 million acute services building, which is close to completion, had been “great news” for the community and staff.
“But, the fact is the job’s only half done,” Dr Jacques said.
”This planning money for stage three is welcome, albeit a bit vague in detail, which worries me.
“It must lead to an end to the tin sheds and other antiquated outpatient services.
“In addition, stage three needs to include a much-needed Brain Injury Unit and modern rehabilitation service for our major trauma and stroke patients who currently experience delays in access to these services.
“The aim of stage three must be to get patients home sooner and allow us to support them in their home.
“These services are needed now.”
Dr Jacques also called for administrators to guarantee some of the car park expansion would be allocated to staff, “who desperately need car park access to provide services”.
A women’s health clinic that is run in cramped and crowded conditions in demountable buildings is among services desperately is need of more modern accommodation.
More than 6500 outpatients a year from Sydney and the southern part of NSW and ACT attend the Pelvic Floor Unit seeking help for urinary and faecal incontinence.
The Pelvic Floor Unit started in 1992 in a former nurses’s toilets and change room block, adjoining old operating theatres.
It was relocated two years later to a demountable building, which had been used to store kitchen supplies.
A second portable building was attached in about 2000.
Limitations include a tiny waiting room, small and poorly ventilated consulting rooms, inadequate areas for expensive equipment and lack of storage for files and the unit’s research studies, which are published throughout the world.
The new acute services block contrasts with the elongated brown brick and red tile building on the other side of the hospital campus.
The left-hand side of that building is James H Laws House, opened in 1937, which was the old nurses’ quarters, and is now used largely for administration purposes.
The right hand side, the Pritchard Wing, was added at a later date and is still used for a wide range of clinics including, sexual health, paediatrics, ante-natal, gynaecology, renal and genetics.
