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Teaching hospital planning: a case study and the need for reform
Author(s) -
Davis Christopher K,
Smith Harry
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03874.x
Subject(s) - stakeholder , government (linguistics) , workforce , scope (computer science) , audit , politics , medicine , best practice , health care , public relations , business , nursing , medical education , political science , accounting , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , law , programming language
Academic teaching hospitals and their networks can best serve patients and other stakeholders by achieving critical mass and scope of clinical services, teaching and research. Successful hospital reconfigurations are associated with a convincing case and majority clinician buy‐in. The inscrutable political decision to relocate services away from a major teaching hospital campus and into a merged Queensland Children's Hospital was determined without broad stakeholder consultation or a transparent and accountable business case. This compromised process poses a significant and enduring risk to patient care and Queensland's paediatric, perinatal, adolescent and obstetric academic teaching hospital services. As the proposed major stakeholder in Australia's public hospitals and medical workforce training, the federal government should review this decision using an effective methodology incorporating relevant criteria. National guidelines are needed to ensure best practice in the future planning and auditing of major health care projects. The medical profession is responsible for ensuring that health care policy complies with reliable evidence and good practice.