THE close involvement of staff in the design of Royal Derby Hospital has so impressed two international visitors that they plan to tell the Government of Australia about it.

Two Australian trade unionists have visited the hospital as part of a 12-day fact-finding mission in the UK.

They decided to fly over after healthcare staff in Australia voiced their concerns that they were not being consulted about the design and running of a new hospital in Adelaide.

So David Pope and Andrew Murray, of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association, decided to find out how this compared to the experience of healthcare staff in the UK.

Mr Pope, president of the association, and Mr Murray, senior industrial officer, were shown around the hospital's casualty department, which was designed by a team of staff.

The team, led by emergency consultant Susie Hewitt, was recently given an award by the hospital's managers for the 10-year project.

Mr Pope said: "So far, we haven't had any invitation from our Department of Health to have doctors and nurses closely involved in the design of our hospital.

"But in Derby, from a very early stage of the hospital's development, doctors and nurses have been engaged in the process.

"We wanted to see what was happening here and impose upon our Government the importance of that involvement."

The South Australian Government hopes that building work on the Adelaide hospital will begin in 2014 and be completed in 2016.

Mr Pope said he was also interested in staffing of Derby's casualty department, where a senior doctor is always available.

He said: "Currently in Australia there are moves to impose extended working hours on accident and emergency doctors, whereas in Derby the move has been quite different because staff have sat down and worked out what's best for patients.

"The big difference between Australia and the UK, which makes a big difference to staff morale, is that here the managers work closely with staff.

"We'll be informing our members of what we've found here to hopefully provide some context to having an adult conversation with the Department of Health."

Their tour included visits to Southampton, Cambridge and Birmingham, as well as a trip to the headquarters of the British Medical Association in London.

Derrick Conway, project director at Derby's hospitals, said: "We're very proud that people from around the world want to take back with them some ideas that we see as a success."