COVID-19 has sharpened our focus on infection control, and is driving us to consider how facilities can accommodate the models of care required in a pandemic. The $1.5 billion investment in a new Footscray Hospital has highlighted Victoria's commitment to modernising and expanding our built environments for the changing healthcare landscape. With expanded capacity and scope of services across the acute, sub-acute, critical care, mental health and other health services, the new Footscray Hospital will meet current and emerging needs of the community.

We had a chat with Robert, in the lead up to VHW, to find out more about this project and discuss some of the challenges and strategies he'll be sharing with the community in December.

Tell us a little bit about the new Footscray Hospital project?

Located on the corner of Geelong and Ballarat Roads, the new Footscray Hospital will support the increasing demand from Melbourne’s booming western suburbs. Building a bigger and better Footscray Hospital will cut wait times and reduce pressure on nearby hospitals. With an increase of nearly 200 beds, the new hospital will treat approximately 15,000 additional inpatients and enable around 20,000 additional people to be seen by the emergency department each year. The project is currently in delivery phase, nearing the end of design stage 2. In design stage two, the project team have worked closely with clinicians to refine the detailed design of rooms in the new facility. We have also recently had the opportunity to test a limited number of prototype rooms which has been very well received by staff.

This stage has included lots of user group engagement with clinicians to determine best practice for this detailed design Also, we have great progress with construction - the structure is now visible to all passing by the site, so it's a very exciting time.

Leading Victoria’s largest investment in health infrastructure is no easy feat. What are some of the challenges that come with tackling such a large-scale project?

Every project comes with its own set of challenges, however, this project is being delivered during a pandemic. A big challenge has been user engagement due to clinician workload and COVID restrictions - this has meant we are rarely able to undertake face-to-face consultation. This has provided a challenging backdrop to engage with our colleagues on the front line. We have worked very closely with project partners the Victorian Health Building Authority, Plenary Health and our builder Multiplex to meet these challenges.

In addition to the COVID challenge, Western Health is an extraordinarily busy health service, concurrently undertaking a range of capital projects, ICT projects, amalgamations and soon becoming a mental health service provider. In this context, we pivoted our design development process to completely online.

The volume of virtual meetings being held means we have to be hyper aware of how we organise our stakeholders, proactively managing their time in this extensive design/development process. It also required constant on-going evaluation and assessment of the absolute need to engage clinicians, given their workload due to COVID. It was a much more dynamic type of engagement that we had to execute in this context.

What about this project do you find particularly interesting/unique compared to other projects?

Clearly giving our frontline staff the tools they’ll need to provide the best care. This project is moving away from outdated and outmoded infrastructure built in the 1950’s to something state of the art. We’re able to achieve and organise the functions with the new facility in line with our requirements. We'll be able to achieve fantastic vertical connections between clinical departments, which will make an impact on speed and efficiency of moving patients around the new facility.

Another exciting part of this project is the new technologies that will be available in the new facility. Clinical workflows will be assisted by the Cerner EMR which is currently being implemented by Western Health's Digital Health team. The Project will complement this with capabilities such as nurse call, automated check in and wayfinding and others. The supply and demand equation has been a real challenge for us in the West of Melbourne, this project will assist us greatly with the overall increase in capacity, which means we are able to remove the bottlenecks that challenge our ability to provide timely care for patients. 

It has been very important to recognise that the NFH Project is delivering more than just a hospital - the current Footscray Hospital was literally funded by the community and there is great pride in that. As a community hospital, it's essential that we deliver a true community asset that welcomes our diverse community, staff and patients.

What is the biggest change you see coming into the design of hospitals into the future?

As the healthcare labour market becomes increasingly tight, it is becoming increasingly important to provide a great experience for staff. Health services must work hard to attracting and retaining high quality staff. There are many factors at play here such as amenities, considering safety and inclusion and providing a workplace that is efficient to work in.

Provision of research and education spaces is also valued by many staff. There are well documented trends towards improving the patient experience and a reasonable evidence base that this improves experience and outcomes but the next trend may be the shift towards the staff experience to compliment this.

What are you most looking forward to about joining us at Victorian Healthcare Week in December?

Nothing beats the opportunity to interact face-to-face across industry. There is a level of interaction that you get with face-to-face presentations that you can't get from digital events. You also get to catch people informally on the side, which is something that can’t be replicated online. It’s the interaction we get between presentations which is the good stuff.

I can't wait!