Fiona Stanley Hospital

Fiona Stanley Hospital
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Hospital
Location	Perth, Western Australia
Coordinates	32°04′09″S 115°50′51″E / 32.069302°S 115.847397°E / -32.069302; 115.847397Coordinates: 32°04′09″S 115°50′51″E / 32.069302°S 115.847397°E / -32.069302; 115.847397
Construction started	2009
Completed	December 2013
Opening	Phase 1: 4 Oct 2014[1] Phase 2A: 17 Nov 2014 Phase 2B: 2 Dec 2014 Scheduled:[2] Phase 3: 3 Feb 2015 Phase 4: 23 Mar 2015
Cost	A$2 billion (est.)
Technical details
Floor area	150,000 m2 (1,600,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Silver Thomas Hanley, Hames Sharley, HASSELL
Main contractor	Brookfield Multiplex
Other information
Number of rooms	6,400

Fiona Stanley Hospital is a state government hospital and teaching facility in Murdoch, Western Australia. Completed in December 2013,^[3] the hospital is the largest building project ever undertaken for the Government of Western Australia.

Design

The hospital campus includes the main Fiona Stanley Hospital tower with 18 theatres and over 22 wards on nine levels, an education building complete with replica wards and a large tiered lecture theatre,^[4] a separate mental health building,^[5] the four-storey State Rehabilitation Service building, a pathology building, an administration building and two multi-storey public carparks. Most of the patient bedrooms in the hospital are single bed ensuite facilities, with less than 10% accommodating two patients.

After completion of the first stage, the initial design of the hospital was to have a capacity of 643 beds.^[6] The final design saw the bed capacity increase to 783.^[7] The hospital is named after epidemiologist and public health campaigner Fiona Stanley.

The site of the hospital is adjacent to Murdoch railway station, Murdoch University and the private St John of God Hospital. It is located 15 kilometres south of the Perth CBD via the Kwinana Freeway.

Construction

Hospital during construction, December 2010

The entire health campus, comprising several buildings, was designed by the Fiona Stanley Hospital Design Collaboration, a joint venture between the local offices of three architectural practices Silver Thomas Hanley,^[8] Hames Sharley^[9] and HASSELL. The directors responsible for the project from each firm were Giorgio Raffa, Warren Kerr and Jeff Menkens. The managing contractor for the project was Brookfield Multiplex.

Opening

The hospital opened progressively over several months between October 2014 and February 2015. The opening was delayed by six months to October 2014 due to issues with readiness of new integrated state-of-the-art information technology clinical systems.^[10] The Fiona Stanley facilities incorporate technological innovations such as wi-fi-controlled "robots" that deliver catering to wards, and mobile computer workstations on wheels to assist staff with dispensing of patient medications while accessing required clinical applications.^[11] Most bedrooms also have new multi-purpose, wall-mounted swing-arm, bedside patient entertainment systems incorporating touchscreens and keyboards that patients can use for ordering meals, making phone calls, watching TV or movies/games, which can also be redirected for use by clinical staff via a swipe card for functions such as updating patient records and reviewing diagnostic imaging such as x-rays.^[12]

Phase 1

Exterior of the State Rehabilitation Service building at Fiona Stanley Hospital

Phase 1 was the opening of the State Rehabilitation Service, with pathology, pharmacy and medical imaging providing support as required.^[2] It opened on 4 October 2014, with patients from Royal Perth Hospital's Shenton Park campus being transferred to the new facility. Approximately 23 vehicles – ambulances, or others suitably equipped – left Shenton Park, transporting more than 80 patients. The new State Rehabilitation Service has a 140-bed capacity.^[1]

Phase 2

Standard ward room

In Phase 2A, several operating theatres and two 24-bed general wards (surgical and medical) opened on 17 November 2014, along with orthopaedic, anaesthetic, hyperbaric medicine and limited intensive care capability.^[2]

Phase 2B in early December included opening of significant maternity services on level 3 of the main building - obstetrics, the birth suite and neonatal services.^[2]

Phase 3

Emergency department, scheduled to open on 3 February 2015

Phase 3, the biggest stage, included the opening of the Emergency Department (ED), from 3 February 2015 with 72 beds including a paediatric emergency department. Many ED staff from the Fremantle Hospital moved across on the opening day and the ED at Fremantle closed as scheduled. Most other medical specialities in the main nine-storey main hospital building also opened, including 18 more wards and corresponding outpatient services in 10 clinics.^[2]

Phase 4

The final Phase 4 included the opening of the heart and lung transplant services in March 2015.^[2] The hospital employs approximately 4,000 clinical staff, as well as administrative, and other support staff such as cleaners, catering, equipment sterilisation services and technical support for hospital facilities such as power and security.

Gallery

• Main hospital exterior
• 
  View from north-east
• 
  View from north-west
• 
  View from south-west
• 
  View from south-east

Panorama of the construction of the hospital, May 2012

Awards

In July 2015, the West Australian chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects awarded the Fiona Stanley Hospital Design Collaboration (comprising architectural practices Silver Thomas Hanley,^[8] Hames Sharley^[9] and HASSELL) the following awards and commendations:^[13]

• The George Temple-Poole Award (the program’s highest overall honour)
• The Jeffrey Howlett Award for Best Public Architecture
• The Wallace Greenham Award Best Sustainable Architecture
• A Commendation for Urban Design

Controversy

Throughout its construction phase, Fiona Stanley Hospital was originally planned to be a 'paper-less' hospital, thus meaning all the information is stored within computers. This idea was abandoned shortly after.

Throughout 2016, Fiona Stanley Hospital was called out for mixing up medications among multiple patients, which ultimately caused the death of two patients. The deaths were results of a mix up between medications, one patient was given too strong of a dosage, while the other was given the wrong type all together. The first death, was a 65 year old man with low blood pressure, was given the wrong medication, which caused him to have a brain aneurysm and ultimately died. The second incident, a middle aged man died after given the wrong medicine to treat his irritable bowel syndrome. He collapsed in the shower, in a pool of his own bodily fluids and died later in hospital. A young girl was poisoned by hospital staff after the wrong medication was prescribed.

The Head Nurse at the hospital released a statement saying the nurse that prescribed the medication to the girl was overworked and tired, and that the medication that was supposed to be prescribed was packaged in a similar fashion to that of the medication which was given to the girl.

Fiona Stanley has also been criticized for the sanitary standards present in the operating theatre of the hospital. A patient, who underwent surgery at the hospital somehow contracted Hepatitis C from the theatre. Leaders of the opposition claim that the poor sanitation of surgery equipment was not up to standard, and even reported that some surgeons even failed to wash their hands before procedures.

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

• Department of Health: Fiona Stanley Hospital