Heart hospital closing operating theatre, beds for ‘fiscal sustainability'

Sydney Morning Herald

11 hours ago

'We've spent almost two-thirds of a billion dollars putting up this facility. It's madness.'
A Monash Health spokesman insisted the changes would not be detrimental to patients, and said they were about using hospital resources more efficiently.
'This operational change at the Victorian Heart Hospital aligns services and resources with patient demand, not rumoured budget cuts, and will not negatively impact patient wait times or outcomes, or our team members,' the spokesman said.
'The change will not reduce the number of procedures performed.'
But a change impact statement prepared by Monash Health in February this year, leaked to The Age, states it was 'no longer feasible for Monash Health to operate under the current care and establishment model'.
'The closure of one lab will enhance our planned operational improvement work and, in addition, assist in the program being fiscally sustainable,' the document says.
'The total number of half-day sessions will reduce from 44 to 40 public sessions that will be available for procedures.'
'The Victorian government is very interested in having new railway lines, but not in addressing public health.'
Dr Roderick McCrae
In leaked correspondence to staff, also seen by The Age, Monash Health said the changes were necessary because of Victoria's activity funding caps. Under these arrangements, health services that conduct surgeries beyond their agreed targets are not fully reimbursed for the extra surgeries.
'Currently, the organisation is operating at approximately 106 per cent of its funded target,' the letter, from May, states.
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'This means 4 per cent of activity is being delivered without corresponding funding, which introduces financial risk rather than benefit.'
Dr Roderick McCrae, Victorian president of doctors' union the Australian Salaried Medical Officers, expressed concerns about the changes, saying they reflected broader issues with the state's overwhelmed health system.
'There is a massive underinvestment in physical and mental healthcare across Victoria,' he said, adding that demand for these services was intensifying due to the state's growing population.
'The Victorian government is very interested in having new railway lines, but not in addressing public health.'
Two Victorian Heart Hospital staff confirmed that the hospital's program director, Professor Stephen Nicholls, informed employees late last week that the health service was forging ahead with its plan in coming weeks.
The proposed changes have been criticised by doctors working at neighbouring hospitals who regularly refer patients to the specialist facility.
One cardiologist, who wanted to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said his hospital had instructed staff to tell patients that they would have to wait longer for procedures at the Victorian Heart Hospital.
'It's terrible from a patient perspective,' he said. 'The longer they wait, the worse their heart gets.'
He said the Victorian Heart Hospital was set up to reduce waiting times for heart procedures, and the changes flew in the face of this.
'Now it is a big house with no one in it,' he said.
Monash Health says it is well positioned to scale up its services to meet increased demand.
State government performance data from the Victorian Heart Hospital shows that the median waiting times for surgery at the Victorian Heart Hospital have deteriorated over the past year.
Category 2 patients at the hospital waited a median of 104 days for surgery from January to March 2025, compared with 26 days over the same period last year. In Victoria, category 2 refers to a patient awaiting planned surgery who requires treatment within 90 days.
Just 24 per cent of category 2 patients were treated within the recommended 90-day time frame.
More than 3000 patients were triaged at the hospital's cardiac emergency department during its first six months of operation, according to a recent annual report.
A third cardiology source said they were concerned the changes would contribute to emergency department delays and ambulance ramping because fewer beds would be cleared as quickly.
'It does have a statewide impact,' the source said.
The heart hospital overhaul is not the first contentious cost-cutting program at a Victorian health service this year. Just last week, The Age revealed that management at Eastern Health was preparing to cut paediatric services from Maroondah Hospital and relocate specialist staff to Box Hill.
The day after The Age 's story, Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas fronted the media to confirm she would use her powers to block the proposal – which would have led to children presenting at Maroondah and requiring more than a night's stay in hospital to be transported at least 20 minutes away to another health service.
In April, the Royal Children's Hospital scrapped plans to cut a dozen jobs at its Children's Cancer Centre after The Age unveiled the plan in the lead-up to the Good Friday Appeal.
A fourth cardiology source described the latest situation at Monash Health as bureaucracy gone mad.
'The department tells Monash Health to find savings. Monash Health tells us they want to save money. But if you speak to the Health Department, they say, 'We wouldn't deem to tell a hospital how to run a hospital.''
An economic impact assessment, presented to the state government in 2017 and later tabled in parliament, stated that the heart hospital would generate almost $400 million for Victoria in 2026 – including $112 million from research and teaching.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the changes appeared to be another example of mismanagement.
'Labor can't manage money, can't manage health, and it's Victorians who are paying the price.'
An Allan government spokeswoman said the changes were a decision made by Monash Health based on demand.
'There has been no budget cuts and there is no impact to frontline care,' the spokesperson said.
'Since we opened Australia's first specialist cardiac hospital in 2023, it has transformed and saved the lives of thousands of Victorians – with cutting-edge telehealth facilities so regional Victorians can connect with specialists and local doctors, no matter where they live.'