The Southern Partnership Group today gained an early glimpse of how big the New Dunedin Hospital might be, and how the use of space might differ from the existing hospital.
The Southern Partnership Group today gained an early glimpse of how big the New Dunedin Hospital might be, and how the use of space might differ from the existing hospital.
Convenor Pete Hodgson stressed that it is still very early days but that some features were starting to take shape.
"It seems that the overall floor area need not be that much larger than the existing building but that the design will be a good deal more efficient.
"There will probably be only a few more beds in total but some areas such as the emergency department or the surgical facilities will be much bigger than they are at the moment. They too will also be more efficient.
"For example it seems very likely that there will be a medical assessment and planning unit alongside the emergency department allowing patients to be kept in for observation overnight without being admitted to a ward.
"Many groups of hospital staff have been involved in these very early design discussions for many months to ensure their views are to the fore.
"One issue we debate back and forth concerns the assumptions we make about the rate of growth of the sector and changes in the way that services are delivered, especially given the growing role of primary care.
"We are trying to avoid building a hospital that is too small or too big, and those assumptions therefore become material. In all likelihood we will end up with a building that is a little on the large side when it first opens, but which then will need some modification or expansion as the decades tick by. We therefore need scope to create flexibility.
"The important point is that formal designing has yet to begin. A concept design is due by the end of this year and then a so-called preliminary design is due in mid 2019.
"During these phases the nature of the new facility will progressively take shape, informed afresh by staff input. Only then will the main planning decisions be complete."
Mr Hodgson said that he expected the site decision to be announced ‘before too long.’
