The $150 million stage three and four redevelopment of Dubbo Hospital includes a raft of design elements to make it more inclusive for Aboriginal people but they don’t include separate waiting areas.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Health Infrastructure (HI) reports that an updated and statewide NSW Health policy requires that “a culturally appropriate space within the local hospital should be identified”. The policy does not specify separate emergency department waiting rooms for Aboriginal people are mandatory, HI says.
“There will be no separate waiting areas and everyone will be welcome to use Dubbo Hospital’s contemporary, open and bright facilities when the project is complete in 2021,” a HI spokeswoman told the Daily Liberal on Friday.
She said extensive community consultation had been undertaken with communities in Dubbo and surrounding areas to ensure all stages of the Dubbo Hospital redevelopment were “inclusive and welcoming for everyone”.
“This includes building facilities that are culturally appropriate for Aboriginal communities to help close the gap between the health outcomes for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people,” the spokeswoman said. “It is particularly important for Dubbo Hospital because it provides care to a significant proportion of Aboriginal people within a large regional and remote catchment area.”
The HI spokeswoman outlined some of the design elements including the relocating of the Aboriginal liaison office to the hospital’s new front of house under stage four redevelopment and the creation of more external and internal “gathering spaces” for large family groups.
Aboriginal artwork and “local and native” plants in and around the hospital will seek to make Aboriginal people feel more welcome and give the hospital a “distinct local identity”.
Wayfinding signage featuring Wiradjuri language and English interpretation, and better access to outside areas for patients and visitors, are also intended to help Aboriginal people settle into the hospital.
The Western NSW Local Health District reported on Friday that “all patients who come to a hospital emergency department are encouraged to stay until their treatment is concluded”.
“In the last quarter reported on by the Bureau of Health Information, October to December 2017, Dubbo Hospital achieved a reduction of 30 per cent in the number of people leaving the ED before receiving or completing their treatment, as compared to the same period the previous year,” its spokeswoman said.
