The key planning documents were the RCH Strategic Plan and the RCH Service Plan (2004), which outlined the principles of the new models of care and service delivery profile and the RCH Service Plan Review (2005) which included revised data and more up to date analysis on the fundamental inputs to the service delivery profile. The RCH service plan provided the basis for the development of the strategic business case, the master plan study, the final business case and the project brief for the new RCH project.
The RCH service plan defined the services to be provided by RCH based on:
• demographic and activity projections to 2016
• catchments (20 per cent of inpatients are from regional Victoria, interstate and overseas, 50 per cent from the local north west metropolitan region and 30 per cent from eastern and southern metropolitan regions)
• unmet demand
• substitution of beds to provide more appropriate levels of care
• improved integration of services and models of care
• increased ambulatory services
• decentralisation of appropriate services.