Long Bay Forensic And Prison Hospitals Project

Forensic Hospital Prison Hospital Documents and Plans

Work is currently underway on the construction of two new hospitals on the Long Bay complex at Malabar, Sydney. This project incorporates the construction of the following facilities:

• a 135 bed Forensic Hospital.
• a 85 bed Prison Hospital.
• a Justice Health Operations Building incorporating pharmacy and stores.

The primary objective of the project is to create facilities to provide care for forensic patients and the mentally ill in line with national and international best practice, whilst continuing to ensure community safety. The hospitals will significantly boost the number of beds for the mentally ill in NSW and also provide acute and rehabilitative health services for people within the NSW criminal justice system.

The Forensic Hospital will be owned and staffed by Justice Health (on behalf of NSW Health), while the Prison Hospital will be operated by the Department of Corrective Services, with clinical services to be provided by Justice Health.

The project is being procured as a Public Private Partnership (PPP), meaning that the private sector will finance, design, build and maintain the facilities under contract until July 2034.

Why are we building the new Hospitals?

The numbers of forensic patients and mentally ill inmates in NSW have been steadily climbing in recent years. The two new hospitals will dramatically increase our capacity to introduce best practice models and better clinical pathways for these patients.

The major benefits of the new hospitals will be;

• More options for mentally ill inmates and young people involving better clinical pathways
• Hospital bed numbers will increase from 120 to 220 in the two new hospitals
• Patients with serious mental illness coming into contact with the criminal justice system will be cared for in a healthcare environment in line with international best practice
• The Forensic and Prison hospitals will introduce the infrastructure Justice Health needs to provide acute and rehabilitative care for women, aged inmates, men, young people and civilians
• 175 of the most difficult and challenging forensic patients and mentally ill inmates will be cared for in a hospital environment

What is a Private Public Partnership?

NSW Government policy is that essential core services are to be provided by the State, while other services may be provided through contracts with the private sector. A Public Private Partnership is simply defined as joint public & private sector participation in a project, usually involving a major capital work or infrastructure development.

In this form of procurement, payment for the project occurs over the period of the contract. For the Forensic and Prison Hospitals project, a series of monthly payments will commence only once the hospitals are open and operating. If a service is not adequately provided according to the agreed set of performance standards, then the monthly payment is reduced. This provides a real incentive for the private sector companies involved to construct high quality and well maintained facilities.

In January 2006 the consortium “PPP Solutions Inc“ signed the contract for the Forensic and Prison Hospitals and Operations Building project.

PPP Solutions consortium consists of the following companies:

PPP Solutions will design, construct, maintain and provide selected non-core services to the hospitals for a period of 28 years until 19 July 2034.

The new Forensic Hospital

A forensic patient is one who has been found not guilty by reason of mental illness, unfit to be tried because of mental illness or who is awaiting trial for a serious offence where mental illness is thought to be a factor. Inmates or young people already in custody who become mentally ill may also be classified as forensic patients.

The new Forensic Hospital will principally focus on mentally ill patients within the criminal justice system, but it will also have capacity for mental health patients from across NSW whose management requires a high level of security and a high clinician to patient ratio. The hospital will cater for both male and female patients and young people.

The Forensic Hospital will be constructed adjacent to the Long Bay Correctional Complex and will be owned and operated by NSW Health. All clinical and administrative services at the Forensic Hospital will be delivered by Justice Health, with other services (security, building maintenance and support services) provided by PPP Solutions.

The mentally ill in the Forensic Hospital will be cared for in a manner that provides for the secure custody of patients. The Hospital will be surrounded by a perimeter wall equal to a maximum-security correctional centre, and will be equipped with the latest electronic security and monitoring equipment.

The Prison Hospital

The Prison Hospital will cater for aged and infirm inmates with both physical and mental illnesses. The Hospital will have 40 beds for mentally ill inmates who require ongoing care and are compliant with treatment.

All custodial services in the Prison Hospital will remain under the control of the Department of Corrective Services. All health services will be provided by Justice Health.

Completion Dates

Currently it is planned that both hospitals will be completed by the end of 2008.

Further Information.

More details on the project can be obtained by using the links on this page.

Alternatively, if you have any specific questions or queries in relation to the project these can be directed to the Project Director whose contact details are:

Project Office (02) 9289 2186

Email glenn.monckton@justicehealth.nsw.gov.au.