Construction has started on a $74 million expansion of Noarlunga Hospital which will provide 48 new beds for Adelaide’s growing southern suburbs.

It’s the largest ever expansion for the hospital which will increase bed numbers by more than 50 per cent.

The project will provide enhanced health care for southern suburbs’ residents and reduce pressure on the system, lifting Noarlunga’s bed numbers from 92 to 140.

The new beds – due to open at the end of next year – are among 280 additional hospital beds being delivered across the state by the Malinauskas Labor Government over the course of this year and next.

Those 280 beds are the equivalent of adding a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital to the health system and they will provide much-needed inpatient capacity for South Australia.

The Noarlunga 48-bed project includes a new Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit which will deliver 24 specialist mental health beds for those with high and complex needs.

This will comprise of two 12-bed pods of single rooms – as well as two large therapy areas, two private consumer lounges, four interview rooms, two family lounges, a gymnasium, and secure external courtyards.

In addition, a new 24-bed Medical Inpatient Unit will also be built to expand the care available for general medical patients, further creating capacity within the system.

The general medicine ward will include 20 single patient rooms purposefully designed with ensuite and a window allowing for natural light, and one four-bed bay for patients requiring a higher level of care.

Two of the bedrooms will be specifically designed for patients with transmissible infectious diseases, while two will be fitted out to care safely for patients with bariatric needs.

The new inpatient unit will help reduce the need to transfer patients to Flinders Medical Centre and will increase patient flow from the Noarlunga Hospital ED, further increasing capacity within the health service.

Technology and audio-visual capabilities have been built into the design to support consultants based at other sites to provide specialist advice regarding patient care and treatment, reducing the need for travel by both patients and clinicians.

Additional car parks will also be constructed for the hospital, as well as an enclosed, secure linkway to connect the new building to the existing hospital.

Artist impressions of the Noarlunga Hospital upgrade can be viewed here.

The beds construction milestone comes during an extremely busy time in our hospitals, which are continuing to experience significant ongoing demand this week, resulting in very busy emergency departments and system access block.

To manage the demand, our Local Health Networks have opened all available hospital beds, maximised out of hospital care options and paused Category 3 and some Category 2 elective surgery in metropolitan and country hospitals. Category 1 and Paediatric urgent Category 2 elective surgeries are continuing as planned.

Many hospitals are also being impacted by the large amount of respiratory illness in our community, in particular COVID and flu, which is also creating staff shortages.

We currently have more than 140 patients in hospital with COVID and flu, and our metropolitan hospitals have reported around 270 staff currently off sick with COVID.

During May, ambulances spent 4,773 hours on the ramp, highlighting the significant pressure on the system.

Across our hospitals there are currently more than 200 extra admitted patients than for the same period last year.

There were also an additional 1500 Triple Zero calls in May compared to May 2023.

Ambulance transports increased across all sites in May with Flinders Medical Centre experiencing an increase of nearly 17 per cent of sick patients being taken to hospital by ambos compared to May last year.

Patients are also sicker and spending longer in hospital, with lack of GP and aged care access a major factor.

The average number of patients in our hospitals with a length of stay greater than 21 days has surged by 21.1 per cent in the past 12 months. At Modbury Hospital, it’s an 83.3 per cent increase and at the Royal Adelaide it’s a 42.5 per cent increase.

Up to 200 patients a day are stuck in hospital awaiting aged care placements and NDIS support, adding to bed-block.

COVID figures released yesterday by SA Health show a jump in the number of new infections across the state in the past week. There were 2,394 new recorded cases – a rise of 487 from the previous week.

Transfer of care data – including a hospital-by-hospital breakdown – can be found here.

Quotes

Attributable to Chris Picton

This week has shown more than ever why we need extra beds in our hospital system and why building more beds is such a focus of the Malinauskas Labor Government.

We totally disagree with Liberal Leader David Speirs that building extra beds is ‘probably wasted money’.

Our hospitals are full, with patients sicker and staying longer, and we are putting in place actions to manage demand as well as getting on with building the extra beds our system desperately needs.

These 48 beds at Noarlunga are among 280 extra beds that we are adding to the system this year and next – that’s the equivalent of a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

We know a major cause of ramping is bed block and hospital overcrowding, which is why we are building and opening every bed possible to increase capacity.

The Noarlunga upgrade will boost the hospital’s bed capacity by more than 50 per cent, expanding care options closer to home for residents in Adelaide’s southern suburbs.

More acute care and mental health beds is welcome news for the community and will alleviate demand on Flinders Medical Centre and improve access to care in both hospitals.

Attributable to SALHN Chief Executive Kerrie Freeman

We know Noarlunga Hospital means so much to our staff and the community and we are excited to be part of seeing it grow.

The new beds will mean people will get their care closer to home rather than having to travel to Flinders Medical Centre.

We may be growing, but we won’t lose that caring approach that Noarlunga Hospital is known for. Our staff are excited to see our services expand so they can care for more people in the South.