$1.17b budget for children's hospital

The state government has announced a $1.17 billion construction budget for the state's new Children's Hospital which will be built on the QEII Medical Centre site.

The budget allocates $600 million to the new hospital building, including purchasing land, furniture, fittings and equipment.

It also includes design, architecture, and other consultancy costs.

The new hospital will have 274 beds, 27 more than Princess Margaret Hospital.

Health Minister Kim Hames said the hospitals pjorect team had been involved in extensive community and consumer consultation.

Minister Assisting the Treasurer, Bill Marmion, said the children's hospital was a key element of the QEIIMC Master Plan.

He said the hospital will be built using a two-stage "Managing Contractor" procurement process.

This will start with an Expressions of Interest being issued in February 2011.

"The 'Managing Contractor" model, which has been successfully deployed for other health projects, facilitates early involvement of the builders to drive efficiencies in design development," said Mr Marmion.

"It also allowed for early start to building, adding certainty to the announced project timeframes," he said.

Construction of the new hospital is expected to start in early 2012 and be completed by the end of 2015.

See joint ministerial statement below:

Planning for Western Australia's new children's hospital has reached a major milestone with the approval of a $1.17billion project budget by the State Government.

The strategic business case for the State's only paediatric trauma centre, which will be built on the QEII Medical Centre site in Nedlands, has been approved by Cabinet.

"This is a very exciting milestone, with WA one step closer to having a leading paediatric and research facility to replace Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH)," Health Minister Kim Hames said.

The new children's hospital project budget allocates almost $600million to the new hospital building and also includes funding for the purchase of land, furniture, fittings and equipment, as well as design, architecture and other consultancy costs.

"By the time the new hospital opens, the way paediatric services are delivered will be very different to what we see today. Services will be available to metropolitan area patients much closer to where they live, which means many patients will be able to use local services rather than having to travel to the new hospital," Dr Hames said.

The facility is being built around ambulatory models of care that allow children to receive care in a same-day setting, which avoids unnecessary overnight hospital stays.

The new hospital will have capacity for 274 beds, including six beds relocated from the Bentley Adolescent Unit. This is an increase of 27 beds on PMH's current number.

The hospital's design includes 75 per cent single rooms which will also have increased family facilities and bedside accommodation for parents and carers. A centralised high-dependency unit for high-risk patients will be co-located within the intensive care unit.

The new hospital will also include a mental health unit with 20 inpatient beds, six of those relocated from the Bentley Adolescent Unit. In a move to centralise expert care for this patient group, the new hospital will be the sole provider of inpatient mental health services for children and adolescents aged under 16.

There will be more theatre capacity, increasing from six to 11 theatres, with room for an additional theatre in the future.

There is also capacity for the most advanced intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diagnostic and interventional abilities.

Dr Hames said the new children's hospital project team had been involved in extensive community and consumer consultation, including discussions with young patients themselves, to ensure the new hospital met the needs and expectations of those who would be using it the most.

Minister Assisting the Treasurer, Bill Marmion, said the new children's hospital was a key element of the QEIIMC Master Plan.

"The master plan provides a blueprint for the ongoing development of the campus as one of Australia's premier medical precincts," Mr Marmion said.

"Development of the master plan and hospital business case has been undertaken jointly by the departments of Health and Treasury and Finance over the past two years, supported by a range of expert advisers."

Mr Marmion said the hospital would be built using a two-stage 'Managing Contractor' procurement process, starting with an Expression of Interest being issued in February 2011.

"The 'Managing Contractor' model, which has been successfully deployed for other health projects, facilitates early involvement of the builder to drive efficiencies in design development," he said.

"It also allows for early start to building, adding certainty to the announced project timeframes."

Construction of the new hospital is scheduled to start in early 2012 and finish at the end of 2015.