Page 2093 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 June 2015

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evaluation and management—GEM—beds, which are classified as subacute activity, across the new north side facility and the Canberra Hospital and perhaps Calvary hospital. The correct balance of GEM beds across acute and subacute facilities is required so that patient flow between these facilities is optimised and that patients are not unnecessarily moved between sites.

Because there is a need to maintain flexibility in the use of both the geriatric medicine and rehabilitation beds across the territory so as to not move patients unnecessarily, I will speak about aged care and subacute beds so there is no confusion by trying to define only the subacute activity.

The Poulos report confirmed ACT Health’s projections that 210 rehabilitation and aged-care—acute geriatric medicine and GEM—beds would be required in the ACT public health sector by 2021-22. Of these, 120 general rehabilitation beds in four streams would be required at the proposed University of Canberra public hospital, with the remainder best located at the acute hospitals.

The need for mental health beds was also clarified and it was agreed that 20 adult mental health rehabilitation beds be incorporated into the University of Canberra public hospital.

Requirements for day services in general rehabilitation, aged care and mental health rehabilitation and other ambulatory outpatient services were also articulated in Associate Professor Poulos’s report. The Poulos report noted that the bed projections were consistent with the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine standards for the provision of inpatient adult rehabilitation medicine services in public and private hospitals, which he noted as a guide only, and the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine position statement, geriatric services in general hospitals 2008.

The previous assumption that subacute older persons’ mental health beds would be located at the University of Canberra public hospital was overridden by the need to keep the older persons’ mental health acute and subacute beds co-located at an acute hospital. It was agreed also that palliative care beds would not be incorporated into the University of Canberra public hospital. The palliative care services plan, completed in 2013, outlines projected need for palliative care beds at Clare Holland House and the Canberra Hospital.

The University of Canberra public hospital service delivery plan, including the functional brief, was completed in 2013 and outlined the concept for the University of Canberra public hospital facility and clearly defined the services to be delivered. The plan was informed by the scope identified by ACT Health and confirmed and refined by Associate Professor Poulos. The service delivery plan functional brief clearly articulates the service profile in table 1 of the functional brief on page 13.

Turning to the issue in the Assembly resolution of a clear definition of overnight beds, day places/spaces and equivalency calculations, the National Health Data Dictionary 2012, version 16, compiled by the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, defines an “available bed” as a “suitably located equipped bed, chair, trolley or cot where the necessary financial and human resources are provided for admitted patient care”.


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