This week’s Auditor-General’s report on the new Royal Women’s Hospital reveals another shocking failure by the Brumby Government to plan and invest in the future, Shadow Minister for Health Helen Shardey said today.

“Labor has an abysmal record in forward planning for major projects, and this time new Victorian mums are the losers,” Mrs Shardey said.

“The Brumby Government refused to invest for our growing population and build a new hospital which could cope with future demand, despite having the option to do so under the contract for construction.”

The Auditor General found that: “In light of the increased maternity demand, which became more obvious during construction, it would have been prudent for DHS and DTF to conduct a cost/benefit analysis of the option to add extra floors during the construction phase… However, we saw no evidence of any consideration by DHS during the construction period to exercise the design option to add extra floors.”

“The Metropolitan Health Strategy revealed that the Royal Women’s Hospital was projected to treat 24,652 patients in 2006/07. Theis target was exceeded a year before, in 2005/06, with the Royal Women’s Hospitals treating a staggering 32,475 patients.

“It is astounding to think that at no stage did the Brumby Government conduct consider the option of adding extra floors to the hospital while it was still being built, even though it was clear that they made a serious error in planning for the new hospital,” Mrs Shardey said.

The Auditor-General also found that: “building the additional floors during initial construction would have been far more cost effective and less intrusive to the hospital’s operations, than expanding in the future. Any short-term savings made by avoiding expansion now, will likely be invalidated by much higher costs in the future if a decision is made to expand the new RWH.”

“Instead, the government plans to address the increase in maternity demand by using existing already overburdened metropolitan hospitals,” Mrs Shardey said.

“It is clear that the Brumby Government was not interested in building a Royal Women’s Hospital which would treat Victorians for decades to come.

“Victorians deserve a government which is willing to make an investment now for our future, not a government that sticks its head in the sand while our hospitals crumble,” Mrs Shardey said.