Hospital probe backs up calls by grieving parents
Farid Farid |
A scathing report into a hospital where two children died waiting for treatment has prompted fresh calls for a state government to intervene.
A NSW auditor-general report on Thursday savaged Healthscope, the operator of Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital, for failing to meet healthcare standards and not taking actions to stop clinical safety risks.
The audit found concerning levels of hospital-acquired complications, including birth trauma.
Newborn Harper Atkinson died after treatment at the facility in February, with her mother believing an hour-long wait for surgery contributed to the death.
Toddler Joe Massa collapsed and died at the same hospital in September 2024 after a three-hour wait in the emergency department.
His parents Elouise and Danny have been vocal advocates calling for Healthscope to step aside and pushing the government to remedy the crisis.
“Our initial optics are of disappointment and sadness,” the Massas said in a statement to AAP, referring to the auditor-general’s assessment.
“The report reaffirms the importance of the change that we are pushing for – to make sure profits stop getting in the way of saving lives.
“Change needs to happen immediately.”
The audit called on the government to consider if the public-private model at Northern Beaches Hospital is the appropriate way forward because of the “tension between commercial imperatives and clinical outcomes.”
The private operator went to the government in 2023 to terminate their $2 billion contract to build and run the public hospital over 20 years, citing insufficient funding and poor health network integration among other reasons.
But the NSW government, which has banned future public-private hospital partnerships, rejected the request.
It has since established a taskforce to examine the future of the deal.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association joined calls for immediate reforms to the flawed partnership.
“The Minns government must seriously consider the long term viability of this hospital and its ability to deliver quality care to its community at the standard expected,” the union said.
Healthscope operates 38 hospitals across the country and remains contracted to operate Northern Beaches Hospital until 2038, despite financial turmoil at the Canadian-controlled firm placing its future in doubt.
AAP
