NFH Nursing Update

Edition 1:  August 2021

Welcome

This is the first of what will be a series of newsletters about the New Footscray Hospital Project (NFH) for our nurses.

As our single biggest workforce, your input will be invaluable as we work towards the opening of our new hospital in 2025. We want to hear from you as we go through the design, construction and, finally, moving-in phases at the new Footscray Hospital.

Schematic Design completed

Last week marked a big milestone for the NFH – the completion of Design Stage 1 (Schematic Design).

During this stage, all areas of hospital design were reviewed and refined, covering everything from inpatient wards, theatres, intensive care, drug health unit and pharmacy, right through to education and research areas, mortuary, loading docks, and patient food services. More than 230 meetings were held between April and July, involving 31 separate user groups and 34 separate reference groups.

The Nursing Advisory Group, whose members include representatives from across the Footscray wards and department, have already played a key role in this consultation period. Key issues they discussed included patient bathroom facilities, work stations, nurse call displays and patient communication system.

Detailed Design commencing

Design Stage 2 (Detailed Design) begins mid-September and will continue through until July 2022.

While this stage is longer than Design Stage 1, it will follow a similar format with repeating blocks of user group and reference group meetings.

Over this period, we will be finalising the room fit-outs in detail, from choosing handwashing sink designs, layout of medication rooms and utility rooms, right down to looking at how patient care equipment fits and works in patient rooms to ensure it functions as intended, and power points are in the right location.

While many Footscray nursing staff will be directly involved in the formal Design Stage 2 consultation process, we don’t want the input of our nurses to stop there. Short presentations at unit meetings are one way we plan to keep you informed about what’s happening with the new Footscray Hospital, and we’re open to suggestions about how best to keep you involved.

Construction update

Meanwhile, we’re happy to advise that construction is going very well, with two massive cranes now on the site, at the corner of Ballarat and Geelong roads.

Soon we’ll be able to put a 3D model of the new hospital on display in the current Footscray Hospital. Plenary Health have created a scaled model of the entire hospital using a 3D printer. Once it’s been fitted in a protective clear case, you’ll be able to see it up-close in the foyer. We’ll let you know once it’s arrived.

Finally, please see some of the artist impressions of some of the great spaces in the new Footscray Hospital – including mental health patient room and a patient lounge. We’ve all got a lot to look forward to!

Thanks for taking the time to read this update. Please feel free to email the NFH Project Team at nfh@wh.org.au if you have any questions, and check out our New Footscray Hospital Project microsite at nfh.wh.org.au. The site is regularly updated and includes sections on staff amenities such as childcare, as well as a new series of Quick Reference Guides to help staff navigate the new technologies and systems in the new Footscray Hospital.