Longueville Private Hospital started as a hospital to care for returning War Veterans in the 1960s. Today the hospital provides medical and rehabilitation care.
About Our Hospital
Longueville Private Hospital is a 38-bed medical facility located at 47 Kenneth Street Longueville.
Longueville Private Hospital started as a hospital to care for returning War Veterans in the 1960s. Today the hospital provides medical and rehabilitation care. Our patients’ average age is 78 years, and they spend an average of 22 Days with us before being discharged. Our main goal is to optimise their reconditioning progress, allowing them to remain in familiar surroundings, thus preventing re-hospitalisation and enabling a return to their homes and local community.
The Development Summary
We are seeking to increase accommodation for patients to 54 beds and invest in the expansion of the rehabilitation gymnasium and hydrotherapy pool.
The proposed redevelopment will provide the community of Lane Cove, with greater access to urgently needed overnight rehabilitation/medical beds and offer extensive allied health treatments. The redevelopment will ensure we meet the current health design and aesthetic standards, enabling high-quality care to be provided to the people of Longueville and surrounding suburbs. The new Hydrotherapy pool will be of world-class standard.
Community Needs
- Our current need to increase accommodation and rehabilitation facilities has already come under increasing demand as the community continues to grow and age. As of the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, 17% of the population in Longueville and 16.3% of the North Shore are 65 and over. Another 17.7% in Longueville are aged between 50-59 years, which indicates an increased proportion of the population will be over the age of 65 in 10 years. There will be a population increase of over 46,000 people, over the next 9 years in the North Sydney and Hornsby Catchment areas. In 2021/22 the NSW Health + Hardes data demonstrates there was a non-acute rehabilitation short fall of 1,273 admissions in the Chatswood – Lane Cove area. The closure of Greenwich and Hirondelle Private Hospitals Rehabilitation Beds in 2023 resulted in the loss of 90 Rehabilitation beds.
- Private patient rehabilitation beds have been closing on the lower North Shore. RNSH (Royal North Shore Hospital) is the closest major public and emergency hospital in the catchment, Longueville Private is the closest Rehab hospital to RNSH. RNSH reports a shortage of private hospital rehab beds in the area high waiting times, this situation has become critical now that Greenwich and Hirondelle Hospitals have closed their rehab wards. Approximately 90 beds will close, this is close to half of all beds in the catchment! This will put major demand on RNSH and the Emergency Department with no suitable local hospital to discharge to.
- Our patients with private health insurance are covered for their stay and rehabilitation programs, meaning there are often no extra fees. According to data from the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC) for the June quarter of 2021, the LGAs including Longueville and surrounding areas have the highest percentage of NSW residents with private health insurance. 64% of Longueville residents have Private Health, vs the average in NSW of 45.2% It would be expected by people paying for private health to have access to facilities at Longueville Private Hospital with enhanced accommodation and allied health facilities we are seeking through this development.
- There is an Urgent Need. The shortage of rehabilitation beds has become increasingly apparent in recent months. Factoring in the predicted population increase, the previous shortfall in rehabilitation beds and the closure of 90 rehabilitation beds, Lane Cove is currently in tremendous need of Rehabilitation Services. Looking forward to 2031/32 this need will be multiplied. The consequences of not addressing this need are twofold: it limits access to critical rehabilitation services for our community, and it places a significant burden on our healthcare system as a whole. This issue affects not only the patients but also the overall quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery
Hospital Accommodation Upgrades
Our development will increase patient beds from 38 to 54. There will be 18 new private rooms created.
- Longueville Private, overtime has become less compatible with the needs of the community and modern healthcare standards due to its format of shared accommodation and limited private accommodation. The hospital’s accommodation is mainly shared rooms, there are also some very small private rooms. Based on room ratio and patient volume, 88% of patients stay in a shared room.
- Longueville Private has consistently had all private rooms full while running shared rooms at lower capacity. This is due to multiple factors including infection control. The recent Covid epidemic and resultant enhancement of infection control guidelines require more private rooms to physically separate at-risk patients. Longueville Private is unable to absorb a high volume of patients seeking beds from RNSH due to minimal accommodation currently available in private single rooms.
- Private rooms and space for guests enable greater hospitality and and become a very positive factor for patients recovering.
Allied Health Facilities Upgrades
With Chronic diseases increasing across the community, there is a direct demand for rehabilitation programs and we need to expand our facilities to provide greater access to therapies for our patients, including a new hydrotherapy pool.
- Longueville Private Hospital Allied Health Services are in demand for private patients to support inpatient therapies along with day only rehab patients. Longueville Private Hospital’s development will provide enlarged facilities and access to allied health professionals. Our allied health teams include Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Cardiac Nurses, Social Workers and Exercise Physiologists. These healthcare professionals provide patients with physical and mental therapies as we help patients build their physical and mental strength. A key part of our successful patient rehabilitation outcomes is our investment in needed facilities.
- There is a large undersupply of Hydrotherapy Pool in the lower North Shore with limited pools available for hydrotherapy treatments within private or public hospitals. Hydrotherapy pools have been proven to help patients start rehabilitation sooner and are more intense than using a gym system. Hydrotherapy Pools differ from standard pools in that they have high levels of water purity and clarity, they are comfortable temperatures (32.5°C – 33.5°C) all year round, and have enhanced access to allow patients to enter the pool safely. Water therapies have proven to lower injury rates more than non-water therapies. These pools enable recovery/rehabilitation for many conditions including; management of back pain, management of neck pain, post-joint replacement rehabilitation, orthopaedic rehabilitation, sports injuries, low back and pelvic pain, exercise for weight control.
Redevelopment Plans – Questions & Answers
Patient Trends
- What % of patients are from the Lane Cove LGA? In 2022, our patient analysis revealed that 71% of patients were from our local community, primarily concentrated in nearby areas. Specifically, 42% resided in postcodes 2060-2072, 16% in postcodes 2110-2113, and 13% in postcodes 2088-2090.
- What will happen if the hospital expansion is not approved? Patients will be rejected from being able to access Longueville Private Hospital, this will force them to travel to more remote hospitals like Hunters Hill, Dee Why, Turramurra, and Warriewood, making their journey to healthcare more challenging. The delay in finding a rehab bed will increase pressure and length of stay in acute referring hospitals and potentially impact patient recovery.
Accommodation
- How many patient beds are there now? There are 38 now, this will increase to 54.
Staffing
- How many extra staff will this development need? There will be approximately 6 extra staff on site per day shift, less on evening and night shifts compared to today.
Traffic
- How many new car parks will be on-site? There will be 4 additional at-grade car parking spaces including 1 accessible space.
- Will the ambulance still park on Kenneth St? No, all ambulance drop-offs and pick-ups will be relocated from Kenneth St to our driveway access point on Christina Street.
- How many day rehabilitation patients drive and need parking? Patients attending day rehabilitation sessions often do not drive due to their medical condition. They utilize transportation services such as community services, Uber, taxis, or rely on family/friends.
- How many new rehabilitation patients will visit the hydrotherapy pool? The hydrotherapy pool will accommodate up to 4 additional patients per rehab group session Monday – Friday.
Hydrotherapy Pool
- There are local hydrotherapy pools nearby; why can’t you use these? Our patients’ private health coverage usually fully funds access to our pool as part of the day rehabilitation program. However, local pools would have associated costs. We specialise in supervised and individual tailed allied health hydrotherapy programs to enhance the recovery of our patients.
Building Heights & Set Backs
- Are the building setbacks within council guidelines? Yes setbacks are minimum of 2 metres and we are proposing 3 metres from the boundary around the rehab centre.
- Is the building height within guidelines? Yes the proposed new level is within the height guidelines, it is in fact lower than neighbouring properties.
Neighbour Privacy
- What privacy will be added to the designs for the neighbours and patients? New fencing around the hospital will be installed to provide mutual privacy to pedestrians and for our guests as they enjoy our gardens. All windows installed will include screening to provide mutual privacy to our guests and neighbour.
Architect’s Designs Showing The Proposed Streetscape
Perspective View From Kenneth St & Christina St Intersection
Perspective From View Christina St Walkway
Perspective View From Lorna Leigh Ln
Perspective View From Kenneth Street
Health Provider Letters of Support
“The Lower North Shore is in great need of rehabilitation beds. Hirondelle Hospital at Chatswood closed down earlier in 2023 and Greenwich is also shutting down its Rehab beds soon… Patients in a private hospital expect and deserve a private room… Private rooms decrease infection spread eg. Covid 19 and Influenza.”
“There are limited hydrotherapy pools in the lower north shore, these do not currently meet demand and there is a growing need… As a member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association I am also aware that the Aquatic Physiotherapy Interest Group within the association are pressing for more hydrotherapy facilities”
“From my experience, the introduction of hydrotherapy provides a more wholistic rehabilitation program for my patients receiving slow or fast rehabilitation. This results in better patient outcomes and lower repeat hospital admissions… More private accommodation will also reduce infection spreading…”