Patients worried about the future of Healthscope hospitals around Australia

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Vicky Purnell is a cancer survivor, and believes that without the Hobart Private Hospital, the outcome might have been different.
In 2016, Ms Purnell, from Devonport in Tasmania's north-west, was diagnosed with uterine cancer.
Within four days, she had surgery at the Hobart Private.
It is one of Healthscope's 37 private hospitals across Australia, which are under a cloud since the company's owners went into receivership this week.
The company has promised it is business as usual for the hospitals, but the uncertainty is causing concern for patients around the country.
In Tasmania, surgery for gynaecological cancer is only done at the Royal Hobart and Hobart Private hospitals.
Ms Purnell said she had the "full pull-out of everything" in a successful operation.
It was only during the surgery it became clear how fast-growing the cancer was.
"I very quickly realised I had such swift surgery because I had private health insurance and I was able to go into the Hobart Private, as opposed to waiting for a space at the Royal."
Ms Purnell said a longer wait for surgery could have given her a different outcome.
She said she was concerned by Healthscope's announcement and the impact it might have if it led to the closure of the Hobart Private and resulted in more surgeries going through the public system.
"You don't have to be Einstein to work out that if you're going to take those cases to the Royal [Hobart Hospital] there is going to be a wait.
"There's only a finite amount of resources and a finite amount of operating theatre time."
Ms Purnell said it was an anxious time for patients linked to Healthscope.
"We just don't know what the long-term outcome will be."
Hobart-based patient Josie Mackey has used Healthscope hospitals in Tasmania and Victoria multiple times a year for the past decade for chronic health conditions and mental health.
The 27-year-old said she was feeling "extremely concerned" about the company's owners' financial woes, especially after it closed its mental health hospital in Hobart in 2023.
"All of my specialists work out of Healthscope hospitals, and, as someone with complex chronic health conditions, it gives me a lot of anxiety," Ms Mackey said.
"It puts into question future surgeries and procedures and as to where they'll be performed out of. Will these specialists move interstate or elsewhere as they have nowhere to work out of?"
Ms Mackey does not believe the public system could meet her complex needs.
"My experiences with Healthscope hospitals has been overwhelmingly positive compared to other hospitals, from the nurses, doctors, staff, food services, to getting a fast admission date," she said.
Ms Mackey will require ongoing procedures for endometriosis.
She said if she were a public patient, she could be waiting for more than a year for surgery, living with pain in the meantime, and unable to access other services.
Darwin mum Jess McClusky has private health insurance and is expecting a second child.
During her first pregnancy, she said it was comforting to have a private obstetrician caring for her, along with a five-day stay in the private hospital with access to specialists on the ward.
But from next week, Healthscope will no longer offer maternity services at the Darwin Private Hospital, leaving no private service.
From August, it will also close maternity services in Hobart, leaving Tasmania with only one private operator.
Up in the Top End, it's making Ms McClusky question whether it's worth keeping her health insurance.
"It's a waste of money … if you're paying for insurance and you can't get anything for it, what's the point in having it?
"We're going to continue it until we've had this baby and then we will reconsider our options."
Like Josie Mackey, Jess McClusky has concerns about going through the public system.
"The public hospital that we've got here in Darwin is overcapacity, often," she said.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Danielle McMullen said the balance between private and public care in Australia was essential.
"It's what makes our healthcare system unique and is what leads to some of the world-leading outcomes we see in Australia."
Dr McMullen said almost 70 per cent of elective or planned surgeries were done in the private sector.
"That highlights just how critical our private hospitals are."
She said Healthscope's problems would be felt strongly in regional areas, where in some places it is the only private operator.
Dr McMullen said change was needed to ensure private hospitals stayed viable.
"It's really important that governments come together with insurers and private hospitals and groups like the AMA under a private health system authority to really drive the reforms we need to see."
Dr McMullen said many doctors in regional areas worked between the public and private system to offer different services and expand their careers.
"We've seen examples across the country that when a private hospital closes, we lose much-needed doctors from the region.
"Many of these doctors use their private practices to help support the suitability of their practice in the public hospital as well.
It's something Vicki Purnell is worried about too, when it comes to surgeons in Tasmania.
"We are down to one gynaecological oncologist at the moment who is performing surgery at the Hobart Private and the Royal [Hobart Hospital]," she said.
Jess McClusky is also concerned about losing specialists in Darwin.
While she can still use a private obstetrician with her insurance, she's worried the closure of the private maternity ward will mean they'll shut up shop.
"We don't know how long the private obstetricians will be here, one is retiring and the other is considering her options," she said.