Veteran’s Affairs Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith and Health Minister Jack Snelling appear at odds over the future of the Repatriation General Hospital.
On Monday, Health Minister Jack Snelling announced the State Government would replace Ward 17 of the Repat with a new, $15 million post-traumatic stress disorder centre.
He said he preferred the centre to be located at a site outside the Daw Park hospital – which will now be mostly shut down, with services including rehabilitation to be moved to other Adelaide hospitals.
“Personally I think there’s a lot to be said for it being in a more central location, but that’s something which I’m committed to having an open engagement with our veterans’ communities (about),” he said.
However, Hamilton-Smith told 891 ABC radio this morning that he wants the centre built on the site of the Repatriation General Hospital.
“I want it rebuilt right there at the Repat,” he said.
“The chapel’s being preserved, the garden, the new rehab facility there that’s privately owned will be staying, prosthetics – I want to see Ward 17 rebuilt at Daw Park.
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“But Jack (Snelling) has to sit down with veterans and clinicians and work that through, because a lot of our mental health patients have other medical-related issues and they have to work out exactly where it’s going to be.
“… experts will need to work on that, but I’d love to see it there.”
A spokesperson for Snelling said no decision had been made on the location of the centre.
Snelling told reporters on Monday he was confident of the $15 million cost for the centre, despite having not decided on its location or design.
“I’m very confident about the cost,” he said.
“There is a similar centre in Melbourne that is up and running and we’ve got a pretty good idea of what the cost would be.”
Meanwhile, the Government is facing questions about recent investments in infrastructure and systems at the Repat.
InDaily has obtained financial statements which state the combined cost “to activate” the beleaguered EPAS electronic health records system at the Repat and Port Augusta hospitals was $18 million over budget by October 2013.
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“The budget to activate Port Augusta and Daw House has already been exceeded by $18 million,” the October 2013 statement reads.
“The current forecast of costs to the end of December are estimated to be $36.4 million in excess of the approved budget for the activation of Noarlunga, Port Augusta and Daw House.”
However, SA Health told InDaily those budget blowouts related to the cost of the entire EPAS system across the state by October 2013, and that the total cost of implementation at Port Augusta and Daw Park, including any blowouts, would have been in the “single-figure millions”.
According to the state budget, the government spent just over $20 million on EPAS in 2012-13 and was budgeted to spend about $26 million in 2013-14.
It remains unclear how much of the money spent on at the Repat will be recoverable if the hospital closes, as planned.
An SA Health spokesperson told InDaily much of the EPAS spend at the Repat will be transferable to other health sites if and when it closes.
“If these proposals proceed, the RGH staff will be able to use their skills and knowledge of the system at these sites, and others which adopt EPAS in the future,” a statement from the spokesperson reads.
“Devices such as PC’s, laptops, printers and scanners will also be repurposed to other sites.”
Doctors at Port Augusta Hospital refused to use EPAS between February and May last year, saying it risked patient safety and caused medication errors, resignation threats and “rage attacks”.
In December, InDaily revealed SA Health was drawing up contingency plans for the New Royal Adelaide Hospital in case EPAS failed to function there.
Image: Nat Rogers / InDaily
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