University of Canberra Public Hospital
Reference Design Public Consultation Report
April 2015 – Draft version b
Contents
1.0 Executive Summary 3
2.0 Introduction and Background 4
2.1 Overview 4
3.0 Community Consultation 5
3.1 Overview 5
3.2 Community Consultation Activities and Events 5
3.2.1 Health Minister Announcement 5
3.2.2 Letter sent to key stakeholders 5
3.2.3 Health Infrastructure and Planning information phone line 5
3.2.4 ACT Government consultation website 5
3.2.5 ACT Health website 6
3.2.6 Submission forms 6
3.2.7 Community information sessions including face to face time 6
3.2.8 Media coverage 6
3.2.9 Other internal staff consultation 7
4.0 Community feedback 7
4.1 Design of Facility 8
4.2 Traffic and Transport 10
4.3 Car Parking and Accessibility 11
4.4 Other 12
5.0 Next Steps 12
1.0 Executive Summary
The Reference Design for the University of Canberra Public Hospital (the UCPH) was released on Monday 16 March 2015 for public comment until Friday 17 April 2015. A range of communication and consultation activities were carried out during this period to inform the community about the Reference Design and to seek feedback.
Objectives
The objectives of the communication and consultation activities were to:
· Create interest in the development of the UCPH
· Raise awareness and inform the community of the UCPH Reference Design
· Engage with key stakeholders and affected local communities early in the design process, so issues raised can help inform the final design for the UCPH project, and
· Allow face to face dialogue between community members and the project team.
Activities
Community consultation activities included:
· Community consultation facilitated by ACT Health at the University of Canberra campus and Canberra Hospital
· Community consultation facilitated by the ACT Health Care Consumers Association (HCCA) in Pearce with peak bodies
· Internal ACT Health staff consultation, and
· ACT Mental Health Community Coalition (MHCC) consultation.
Feedback
Feedback on the UCPH Reference Design was received via:
· Email (11 were received) which included the following:
o Submission Form attached to emails (3 were received)
o Reports attached to emails (2 were received)
· Submission form (1 hard copy received) , and
· Face to face discussions with project team members at the community information sessions.
The most frequently raised suggestions, questions and concerns related to:
· Traffic and transport
· Car parking & accessibility, and
· Design of the facility (including accessibility, orientation of facility, design for patients with cognitive impairment, visual amenity and other general design subjects).
Next Steps
This feedback will be used by the UCPH project team to inform the shortlisted contractors bidding for the final Design, Construction and Maintenance Contract for the facility. This consultation report will also be made available on the ACT Health website.
Updates will be made available to the community as the design and project progresses.
2.0 Introduction and Background
2.1 Overview
The UCPH is a part of ACT Health’s Health Infrastructure Program (HIP), which is the single largest capital works program undertaken in the history of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT or the Territory). The HIP involves the overhaul and expansion of all aspects of the ACT Health system.
The Territory has committed to the development of a new sub-acute hospital on the University of Canberra’s Bruce campus. The UCPH will provide rehabilitation, aged care and mental health services for the populations of the ACT and neighbouring NSW, as well as educational facilities. The hospital will comprise 140 overnight inpatient beds made up of 20 Mental Health and 120 Rehabilitation beds. In addition to the overnight beds, the hospital will comprise 75 day places (30 bed equivalents) made up of 25 Mental Health, 25 Rehabilitation and 25 Aged Care places. The facility will have Outpatient Day Ambulatory Services and will also include a Hydrotherapy Pool. Acute services including emergency department services will not operate from the site.
The ACT Government signed a Deed of Collaboration and a Deed of Acquisition and Development with the University of Canberra on 24 December 2013 to build the new sub-acute hospital on the University’s land and to facilitate joint teaching and research activities.
The UCPH will be a teaching hospital that provides a forward-looking approach to patient care by multi-disciplinary teams, teaching, training and research focusing on patient and professional outcomes. The Territory will be responsible for the design and construction of the facility, including University related areas, the Access Road and a portion of the required car parks. The University of Canberra will be responsible for the design and construction of the remainder of the car parking.
The development of the Reference Design commenced following the engagement of the Principal Consultant (Architect) Lyons in June 2014. The Reference Design for the UCPH was completed in early 2015. The Reference Design is a response to the following key reference documents:
· Service Delivery Plan - completed at the end of 2014. This key document defined the project scope and included a Functional Brief for each functional area within the UCPH
· Acquisition and Development Deed - executed by the Territory and the University. The parties have entered into this deed to facilitate and regulate, amongst other things, the design and construction of the UCPH and associated infrastructure including the Access Road and car parking
The Reference Design was developed in consultation with a large number of stakeholders. The project design team consulted with in excess of 40 user groups which included staff, consumer groups and other external groups.
3.0 Community Consultation
3.1 Overview
Community consultation on the Reference Design was held from 16 March 2015 to 17 April 2015. The objectives of the community consultation activities were to:
· Create interest in the development of the UCPH
· Raise awareness and inform the community of the UCPH Reference Design
· Engage with key stakeholders and affected local communities early in the design process, so issues raised can help inform the final design for the UCPH project, and
· Allow face to face dialogue between community members and the project team.
Prior to the community consultation ACT Health consulted extensively with key stakeholders and users including clinicians and consumer representatives to develop the Reference Design.
The following community consultation activities were carried out to raise awareness of the UCPH Reference Design and consultation activities.
3.2 Community Consultation Activities and Events
3.2.1 Health Minister Announcement
The Minister for Health, Simon Corbell, officially launched a public consultation on Monday 16 March 2015 at the UCPH Site at the University of Canberra and confirmed consultation would close on 17 April 2015.
3.2.2 Letter sent to key stakeholders
On 7 April 2015, Paul Carmody, Deputy Director-General Health Infrastructure & Planning sent a letter to a large number of stakeholders advising of the release of the Reference Design, the consultation period and public information sessions. The letter also advised where further information was available and where submissions on the design could be directed.
Community members were invited to provide their comments on the reference design via the HIP email address .
3.2.3 Health Infrastructure and Planning information phone line
A Health Infrastructure and Planning phone line, (02) 6174 8088, provided a direct communication channel with the HIP Communications Team to ask questions, arrange individual meetings and discuss individual questions.
3.2.4 ACT Government consultation website
Information on the Reference Design was also made available on the ACT Government consultation website, Time To Talk www.timetotalk.act.gov.au.
Community members were invited to provide their comments on the Reference Design via the HIP email address .
3.2.5 ACT Health website
Information on the reference design was also made available on the ACT Health website www.health.act.gov.au.
Community members were invited to provide their comments on the Reference Design via the HIP email address: .
3.2.6 Submission forms
A submission form to invite members of the community to have their say was available at the public information sessions for the community to submit their comments and feedback on the Reference Design.
3.2.7 Community information sessions including face to face time
The community was invited to the following public information sessions:
Location / Date / AttendeesUniversity of Canberra / 31 March 2015 / 20
Canberra Hospital / 8 April 2015 / 11
The purpose of these sessions were to hear ideas and concerns from the community about the Reference Design, respond to questions and provide further information on the next steps.
In addition to the above, key sessions were held with peak bodies at the following sessions:
Location / Date / AttendeesACT Mental Health Community Coalition / 7 April 2015 / 18
ACT Health Care Consumers Association / 16 April 2015 / 31
3.2.8 Media coverage
During the consultation period the UCPH reference design has received media coverage from the following outlets:
· Newspapers - The Canberra Times
· Television - Southern Cross Ten, Prime 7, WIN, ABC
· Radio - 2CC, 666 ABC, Radio National, FM 104.7, Mix 106.3
· Twitter - ACT Health Twitter
· Facebook - ACT Health Facebook
3.2.9 Other internal staff consultation
In addition to the stakeholder engagement for the development of the Reference Design and the public information sessions, a number of internal staff consultation sessions were undertaken by project team members between March and April 2015.
The table below outlines the dates of these activities.
Location / DateThe Canberra Hospital – for Rehabilitation, Aged & Community Care staff / 10 April 2015 (am)
The Canberra Hospital – for Geriatrics and Rehabilitation Medicine staff / 10 April 2015 (pm)
Belconnen Community Health Centre – for Rehabilitation, Aged & Community Care staff / 13 April 2015
Phillip Health Centre – for Rehabilitation, Aged & Community Care staff / 14 April 2015
Rehabilitation Inpatient Living Unit (RILU) – for Rehabilitation, Aged & Community Care staff / 15 April 2015
Village Creek - for Rehabilitation, Aged & Community Care staff / 16 April 2015
Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol & Drug Services – Directors information session / 20 Apr 2015
Business & Infrastructure, staff information session / 23 April 2015
4.0 Community feedback
The community provided feedback via a number of channels including at public and staff information sessions and via emails, letters, phone calls, reports and face to face discussions.
Whilst there was strong overall support for the Reference Design and for the UCPH, the community provided valuable feedback by raising concerns, issues, questions and suggestions.
Twelve submissions were received on the Reference Design, from interested organisations, community groups, consumer representatives and members of the community.
A summary of the issues raised in these submissions is documented under the following broad headings. The feedback is not presented in order of importance.
· Traffic and transport
· Car parking and accessibility
· Design of the facility (including accessibility, orientation of facility and design for patients with cognitive impairment), and
· Other.
4.1 Design of Facility
Whilst there was strong support provided for the Reference Design, feedback was raised on a number of design related items such as the orientation of the facility, accessibility issues, design for patients with cognitive impairment and other design matters. The following suggestions, questions and concerns were raised.
Accessibility
· Support for clinical and rehabilitation services being on more than one level to reduce travel distances.
· Support for easy access to and from public transport including a covered entrance from the bus- stop.
· Suggest covered entrance from bus stop to hydrotherapy pool.
· Request for clear way-finding measures, with special consideration for way-finding for aged people, people with cognitive impairment, people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, and mobility sight or hearing impaired people and their carers.
· Suggest a southern access point to the hydrotherapy pool.
· Suggest the need for enough external seating options particularly for rest stops.
Orientation
· Suggest relocating the two-storey rehabilitation inpatient wards to the north-west of site and move the mental health inpatient unit. Suggest rehabilitation wards would benefit from the views from this location.
· Suggest that the facility could be re-oriented so it has a northern aspect and can take greater advantage of the view to Mount Rogers and Lake Ginninderra.
· Suggest relocating Hydrotherapy Pool to the north and becoming a more visible architectural feature from Ginninderra Drive which the community can identify with.
· Suggest that the main entrance could be on Ginninderra Drive.
· Suggest that the University of Canberra related teaching and research area could be moved to the south-east quadrant for better access by students from the main campus. Suggest this could benefit future expansion of rehabilitation inpatient wards.
Visual amenity
· Concern about the visual impact for residents located at the Kangara Waters Retirement Village
· Suggest more landscaping so more greenery would be visible from neighbouring properties, as opposed to buildings.
Patients with cognitive impairment
· Suggest design to enable patients with wandering behaviours and absconders to do so safely.
Outdoor areas
· Support outside walking areas that incorporate both easy and challenging surfaces, as well as stairs, to assist with rehabilitation.
· Suggest that courtyards should be accessible and useable spaces.
· Support garden beds being incorporated into the design for occupants of the mental health inpatient units.
· Support elements of the existing sensory garden at the Brian Hennessy Rehabilitation Centre moving to the UCPH.
Design to promote healing
· Support a facility which is a calm and pleasing environment that has opportunities for activities to promote healing including secure therapeutic green space.
Environment
· Question the environmental impact of the building.
· Support for the off-site strategy to regenerate impacted area of box gum woodland in another location under the requirements of the Environmental Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act).