Sunshine Coast Public University Hospital will not repeat commissioning mistakes

An expert in the commissioning of hospitals will commence in September to help make sure that the mistakes made in the lead-up to the opening of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane are avoided on the Sunshine Coast Public University Hospital project.

Health and Ambulance Services Minister Cameron Dick said that the appointment of hospital commissioning expert Michael Allsopp by the Department of Health was in direct response to the recommendations of the commissioning review into the opening of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.  

Mr Allsopp, from Capital Insight Pty Ltd, a highly respected national project management company specialising in health care projects, will provide strategic advice to the project in respect to commissioning. He will be employed until December 2016, a month after the scheduled opening of the hospital.

Mr Dick said the government was committed to implementing all of the recommendations from the commissioning review.

“One of the key criticisms levelled at the previous government’s handling of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital commissioning was its lack of independent scrutiny,” Mr Dick said.

“We are taking action on all of the recommendations and this is one of the first key steps needed to deliver this hospital successfully.

“This role is about making sure that all of the individual pieces of the project come together and are ready to deliver the best possible health care from day one.

“We do not want to see a repeat of last year’s bungled commissioning process at Lady Cilento which had a significant impact on staff, patients and their families. It was the hard work of a highly committed staff at LCCH which allowed the hospital to open safely.

“Mr Allsopp’s role will be to provide independent oversight and advice regarding commissioning of the new buildings and the operational and clinical services.”

The project has recently reached another milestone with parts of the main hospital powered on for the first time as work continues to fit out buildings.

Mr Dick said the project would revolutionise health services on the Sunshine Coast.

“This will be a world-class hospital once it is completed and will mean more Sunshine Coast residents will be cared for closer to home,” Mr Dick said.

“This hospital will provide a range of new and expanded services when it opens in late 2016 and will continuing growing to meet local demand for health services.”

Mr Allsopp has valuable experience in the commissioning of large health infrastructure projects and was previously the Executive Director Strategic Development for the Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) project, leading that project team and facility to both a successful completion and a subsequent successful operational start-up.

He is currently involved in preparing the new Royal Adelaide Hospital prior to its opening.

Mr Allsopp brings a wealth of relevant experience to SCPUH from similarly complex projects which have confronted and surmounted many of the readiness and commissioning challenges facing the SCPUH project.

ENDS

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