The redevelopment of the RWH as a specialist facility dedicated to meeting the health care needs of Victorian women is consistent with the government's Victorian Women's Health and Wellbeing Strategy1 and the Department of Human Services (DHS) Metropolitan Health Strategy.
The project is also consistent with Growing Victoria Together; a statement about the government's broad vision to 2010, which balances economic, social and environmental goals2.The government's vision includes: 'all Victorians have access to the highest quality health and education services all through their lives.'
As part of its commitment to addressing this goal, the government has also developed a set of priority actions to guide work in these areas. DHS has identified the priority actions that are their primary responsibility, including:
● build, improve and integrate hospitals and community health centres
● link and invest in services for mothers and children through pregnancy to age eight.
The project embodies both of these priority actions, by integrating the RWH and Royal Melbourne Hospital facilities as well as improving health services for mothers and children.
The specific objectives for the project are:
● provide a modern facility that supports the delivery of accessible, cost effective and high quality patient services to Victorian women and their babies
● provide a new facility that is operationally efficient, capable of achieving service plan targets and sustaining service levels into the future
● provide an environment that enhances patient safety and improves clinical outcomes through the provision of comprehensive tertiary care for women, improved access to emergency services, specialist inpatient services, advanced diagnostics, intensive care and specialist clinical services
● provide a facility with flexible infrastructure capable of adapting to new technologies, clinical practice changes, changes in government policy and funding arrangements
● provide appropriate facilities for (and the integration of) teaching, training and research within clinical areas and between the RWH and Royal Melbourne Hospital
● achieve a successful relocation with no interruption of the ongoing delivery of services
● procure the new RWH in a manner which delivers value for money to the State
● complete the project within the budget and other parameters agreed by government
● achieve efficiencies in capital and recurrent costs for both the RWH and Royal Melbourne Hospital through the best use of jointly available resources.
1 Victorian Women's Health and Wellbeing Strategy, Department of Human Services (Policy Statement and Implementation Framework 2002-2006).
2 Growing Victoria Together, Department of Premier and Cabinet (November 2001).