About Save RAH Policy Statement

More than 12 months ago, the South Australian government announced that a new hospital would be built at the western end of North Terrace, one kilometre from the RAH. The RAH would cease to exist and be demolished. The government had prepared these plans in relative secrecy, made its announcement without public discussion and deployed the bureaucracy to proceed with detailed planning.

In the months that followed, the public and the medical profession have remained relatively silent. Many RAH staff did not believe that the plan would proceed but they are not now so sanguine. Therefore, SavetheRAH campaign is seeking public debate, having expressed genuine concern about this decision.

We ask the following questions.

  1. Was this decision made as a result of a formal review or enquiry?
  2. Why has the next stage of the RAH redevelopment (a new patient accommodation tower) been abandoned so soon after the completion of a new world class Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department and Burns Unit?
  3. What is the fate of an estimated $700 million in RAH bequests and Commissioner of Charitable Funds?
  4. Why was the medical profession not widely consulted?
  5. Why was there no consultation with staff of the Royal Adelaide Hospital?

It is apparent that the existing institution can be refurbished and rejuvenated. It was done in the 1960s when a larger RAH was rebuilt on site without major problems. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital has just completed such a task.
An action group to save the RAH has been formed. We are seeking support to create wider community debate and to reflect upon the qualities of what we believe is an iconic institution.

1. Patient care – High quality health care dating back more than 150 years
There has always been an uncompromising commitment to serve the sick and needy people of South Australia. There is no good reason to risk this irreplaceable legacy. The RAH never closes!

2. Teaching
The University of Adelaide Medical School has grown up next door to the RAH, whose motto is “sevire ac docere”, embodying the concept of service through teaching. The University remains very dependent on the RAH and its staff for undergraduate teaching

3. Proximity of the RAH to the following speaks for itself

4. Research and the unique benefits of the RAH campus

The juxtaposition of the RAH, IMVS and relevant departments of the University of Adelaide on the present North Terrace/Frome Road site has encouraged and enabled a collaboration between clinical, laboratory and academic personnel, resulting in the campus becoming a leading focus of research in Australia. The 2006 report of Professor Judith Whitworth (1) acknowledged the unique properties of the present RAH site as contributing to the success of the Hanson Institute in joining the top rank of Australian research institutes and becoming “a flagship for medical research in South Australia”.

The Hanson Institute arose from an independent review by Pennington and Fraenkel (2) which recommended that a research centre should be developed as part of the IMVS/RAH campus because the benefits of a separate centre would be diminished by the separation of research and service functions. All departments in the RAH conduct either laboratory or clinical research with the Hanson Institute and IMVS as they are co-located.

5. The importance of the brand name
The Royal Adelaide Hospital has an international reputation for excellence in medical care, research and teaching that has been built up over many decades. It is this “brand name” which attracts the best staff and encourages visitors from within Australia and overseas who foster and fertilise new clinical and research concepts. The impact of its loss cannot be overemphasised.

Summary
We believe that the majority of our colleagues prefer that the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) be redeveloped on its present site and that this view is shared by the public (3). These opinions are undoubtedly influenced by the fact that the RAH is already undergoing a process of redevelopment – partly funded by a government approved public appeal in 2001 – and by the prospect of the loss of the culture of the institution built up over the past 150 years

References

  1. Hanson Institute: Review of Research. Whitworth J (2006)
  2. Review of Research, RAH/IMVS. Penington D, Fraenkel G (1986)
  3. Opinion poll, The Advertiser (2008)

James Katsaros
Director
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Royal Adelaide Hospital