Consultants will be paid $1.5 million to advise bureaucrats on how to best educate Canberrans about the ACT's health projects, in a move the Liberals say is about delivering "sizzle" instead of sausages.
ACT Health has signed a nearly two-year contract with Becscomm, a specialist stakeholder engagement and communication agency, to provide advice on a communications strategy for health projects.
Among the aims of the contract are "suggestions for communicating, in plain English, complex and technical matters with a view to improving stakeholders and the community's understanding of the health infrastructure".
The company will work with the infrastructure communications and engagement team in ACT Health to develop an overarching health infrastructure strategy.
"This strategy will need to align with the health infrastructure plan and provide an overarching approach that will guide health infrastructure engagement over the coming years," the contract said.
"The strategy will include activities and consultation tools that will best facilitate uptake and stakeholder feedback and will develop and sustain effective, trusted and collaborative relationships with stakeholders."
The strategy will include:
- Objectives, principles and engagement methodologies;
- Engagement tools and channels, risks and sensitivities;
- Stakeholder mapping;
- Approaches to First Nations engagement; and
- A detailed timeline for the next 18 to 24 months covering engagement plans and activities across all identified projects.
The contract requires engagement with clinicians, stakeholders and community groups.
The opposition has panned the spend, with health spokeswoman Leanne Castley saying there were already 37 communications staff across ACT Health and Canberra Health Services.
"Infrastructure projects already have project control groups, design reference groups and project teams," she said.
"Yet still the government is spending up to $1.5 million of Canberra taxpayers' money with Sydney consultants to create a sizzle about proposed infrastructure projects, while falling short on delivering actual sausages."
An ACT government spokesman said while a dedicated health infrastructure communications team had been developed there was a need for an external company due to the size of the projects and the consultation needed.
The spokesman said this included further expansions to Canberra Hospital, the new northside hospital and a number of community health services. He said Becscomm would work with the communications team to deliver the project.
"This collaborative approach will ensure we have the local knowledge and understanding of the unique opportunities and challenges for these projects, the local knowledge and relationships with stakeholders and the broader community, mixed with years of experience in designing and constructing new health infrastructure," the spokesman said.
"This contract will help grow the capacity of the internal ACT Health teams in delivering these projects into the future."
The consultants will specifically work on the proposed $1 billion northside hospital, which the government said would be open in about 2030.
Ms Castley questioned whether this would be completed on time, pointing to a number of delayed health infrastructure projects including the expansion of pharmacy services and endoscopy services at Canberra Hospital.
She also spoke on the delayed expansion of Canberra Hospital. The expansion, which is set to be completed in a matter of months, was first promised by Labor in 2016 with a 2022 completion date.
"Coming up to another election, we have another pie in the sky hospital promise from Labor," she said.
"That's why they think they need to spend $1.5 million on communications consultants."
