Queensland taps NSW consultant to oversee hospital expansion

Queensland’s new LNP government has looked interstate to rein back the cost of the state’s hospital capacity expansion program, which it claims blew out by billions under the former Labor regime.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls said Sam Sangster, who had extensive hospital infrastructure delivery in NSW and South Australia, was well-placed to oversee the expansion of 11 hospitals, the delivery of three more, plus the Queensland Cancer Centre.

Sangster said while his remit was broad, it would still be up to the government to deliver the goods.

“They may not agree with some of them, or we may have strong agreement, but that’s my job as an independent reviewer, is to form recommendations for government,” he said.

Sangster said he had delivered about 130 hospitals across Australia, so was well-placed to head the review.

“I think I’ve got a pretty good understanding about how to actually make this happen,” he said.

Sangster would examine all aspects of the capacity expansion program (CEP), including governance, project management and delivery, budget overruns and stakeholder engagement.

Nicholls said the $9.8 billion hospital CEP could bow out to $23 billion, according so “some independent experts”.

“The expansion to the 11 existing hospitals, and then the three new hospitals and the Queensland Cancer Centre, were all in danger because of Labor’s failure to properly plan, to properly budget and to properly be able to deliver these programs, and that is abundantly clear,” he said.