Consultation Process

UPDATE: Below is a record of what appeared on YourSAy during the open consultation process from 15 August 2018 - 16 September 2018. The Repat Consultation Report was released on Tuesday 30 October 2018. The report outlines the services the community identified as priorities for a revitalised Repat Health Precinct, which includes brain, spinal and community rehabilitation, enduring mental health, day surgery procedures and care transition.

The final master plan will be released in early 2019 and will be available for public comment.

Have your say on which health care services you would like to see on the revitalised Repat site in Daw Park.

What is being decided?

You are invited to have your say on which services you think would best support the health system and most benefit the community.

The State Government is committed to reactivating the Repat as a thriving health precinct that delivers on the needs of the community and delivers the best value use of the site in supporting our hospitals and health services.

At the election, the Government committed to re-opening the operating theatres, re-purposing Ward 18 as an older people with mental health issues facility, and re-opening the hydrotherapy pool.

There are assets and space on the site to provide more services and facilities to support the health and wellbeing of the southern community and South Australians more broadly.

We want to ensure that the reactivated Repat site will help us to meet the health needs of the community now and into the future.

We will be working with the community, clinicians and stakeholders to collectively determine the best use for the site.

The Repat site is an important part of South Australia’s health infrastructure and the community will play a vital part in the reactivation of this iconic site.

Three concepts

The first part of the consultation and engagement process was a workshop with key stakeholders. In these discussions, potential facilities, services and strategies for reactivating the Repat were identified. This discussion then informed a second stakeholder workshop where preliminary conceptual options were discussed incorporating these ideas.

SA Health has distilled these ideas and discussions into three concepts with themes based on a number of core health services, as a starting point to prompt discussion and debate about what should be on the Repat site.

The key elements identified in these workshops and structured into the concepts are explained in the Issues Guide.

Watch the Video below which provides a snapshot of the proposed options.

Get involved

We want to hear from South Australians about which health services could form part of a new health precinct into the future.

Read the Issues Guide and join the discussion by:

• Attending a Let's Talk event where you will engage in a series of in-depth conversations with a group of speakers.
• Taking part in the online poll
• Sending an email to emma@Democracyco.com.au or calling Emma on 0421 098 355.
• Completing the submission form
• If you represent a private health service provider or NGO, provide a submission in response to the Expression of Interest

How will your input be used and influence the decision?

Following the consultation, we will collate feedback and responses as we finalise a Master Plan for the site, which is expected to be released by the end of the year.

The unique culture and the spirit of the Repat will be taken into consideration throughout the process of reactivating the Repat site.

The final site design will provide a range of health and related services aimed at supporting our State’s hospitals and health services.

Official launch of the public consultation

The official launch of the public consultation took place Wednesday 15 August.

If you missed the event, you can hear the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Stephen Wade, speak about the process and his views in the video below.

You can watch all the videos from the official launch here.

Closing date 5pm Sunday 16 September 2018

Background

The Repatriation General Hospital (‘The Repat’) at Daw Park, was one of three repatriation general hospitals established in South Australia by the Commonwealth Government around the time of World War II to cater for returned servicemen and women. The Repat was initially set up as an Army hospital before being administered by the Repatriation Commission (now the Department of Veterans’ Affairs).

In the mid-1990s, the Commonwealth Government divested itself of the Repat and it became a public hospital under State Government administration.

In June last year, the former State Government entered into a contract to sell the Repat site to the not-for-profit ACH Group. The ACH Group had been planning to redevelop the site for community and health services, housing, education and aged care facilities.

In November 2017 most SA Health public health services transitioned from the Repat into other purpose-built and state-of-the-art facilities, including the Jamie Larcombe Centre, the Flinders Medical Centre and the Noarlunga Hospital. As part of this process supporting infrastructure was decommissioned and either removed or relocated from the Repat.

In the lead up to the election, the then Liberal opposition announced that in government it would:

• Re-open operating theatres to reduce the elective surgery waiting list.
• Re-open the hydrotherapy pool to support community health.
• Use Ward 18 as an older persons mental health facility to provide accommodation for people who until recently would have been admitted to Oakden Older Persons Mental Health Service.
• Build a new older persons mental health facility for people with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

The sale of the site to the ACH Group was not finalised prior to the March 2018 state election and the Minister for Health and Wellbeing terminated the contractual arrangements on 2 May 2018.

The hydrotherapy pool was reopened in May this year, enabling access to rehabilitation patients from the nearby ViTA centre and self-help community users, and from 1 July, the Repat pool was opened to patients from across the south and community groups with a focus on health and wellness.

Status of the site

The Repat is situated on 14 hectares of land approximately eight kilometres south of the CBD, and it is important that we maximise its use to the best of our ability.

There are a number of health services that are currently located at the Repat site that will continue to operate in a reactivated Repat health precinct, including:

• Care awaiting placement and Transitional Care beds in the ViTA facility (ACH and SALHN)
• Repat Radiology
• Orthotics and Prosthetics SA (OPSA)
• The Flinders University Sleep Studies program
• The hydrotherapy swimming pool

Three of the most functional and core assets on the site are linked to the delivery of the Government’s policies and these buildings have been identified as key opportunities for core services at the reactivated Repat. These buildings are primarily the:

• Previous Rehabilitation and 4th Generation Building on the northwestern corner of the site
• Previous Older Persons Mental Health ward – Ward 18
• Operating theatres and supporting infrastructure

There are several buildings across the site that are of heritage significance with the Chapel, Schools Patriotic Fund (SPF) Hall and Remembrance Garden of considerable significance to World War II Veterans and their families.

These will all be preserved.

There are some non-heritage buildings that have been identified as unlikely to be suitable for repurposing and re-use due to their poor functionality and condition.

The demolition of a number of these grouped ancillary buildings could create the opportunity to develop an open, central and landscaped space in the heart of the site to craft a cultural hub that connects the core repurposed buildings.

The State Government’s commitment to reactivate the Repat as a genuine health precinct presents an opportunity to utilise the capacity, the assets and land on the site for the provision of health and related services.