Latest news with #HobartPrivate
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Patients worried about the future of Healthscope hospitals around Australia
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.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Tasmania's healthcare is 'costing a lot of lives' says independent health analyst Martyn Goddard
Martyn Goddard It's too small, it hasn't had the economy of scale, none of the several operators over those years has been able to make a go of it, including Healthscope. Why should we think that that is suddenly going to be saleable? It's not. Kylie Baxter Do we need government intervention if the Hobart Private cannot be sold? Martyn Goddard If the Hobart Private cannot be sold, and I suspect strongly that that will be the case, then there is going to be no alternative but for the state government to step in and take it over. We cannot afford to lose 146 beds. Kylie Baxter What would it mean for health? Martyn Goddard Well, you know the problems we've got at the moment around the Royal Hobart Hospital, those would be magnified because the people who are in Hobart Private overwhelmingly are there people with elective surgery. And in this state and in this country, the private hospitals are doing a hell of a lot more elective surgery than the public hospitals. If you want elective surgery in this country, you've got to pay for it basically. You take that facility out and where are you? You're in a lot of trouble. And so are the people who rely on them, the patients who rely on them, and so of course are the staff. Kylie Baxter What do you actually think health care will look like in Tasmania in the next 12 months or even inside the next 12 months? Martyn Goddard I think it's likely that the Hobart Private Hospital will be reintegrated into the Royal Hobart Hospital. Overall, it's going to make relatively little difference to capacity because capacity in all of them is basically full. Kylie Baxter So you think there'll be no buyer and there'll have to be a bailout? Martyn Goddard I don't think we should bailout Brookfield, the private equity people. I mean, I think the smart thing would be actually to wait until it falls over and then just step in and take the lease back. The government still owns the property. It's just leased. So if they give up the lease, then back in the government's ownership. Kylie Baxter Anything else you wanted to add before we wind up? Martyn Goddard Just that I really wish our governments would wake up to the fact, genuinely wake up to the fact, that our health system is in deep, deep trouble. Really deep trouble. It's costing a lot of lives. It's costing a great deal of suffering. They could do something about it. They've chosen until now and ongoing to do nothing about it, to pretend it's not happening, to pretend everything's okay. It's not okay.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Concerns over future of Hobart Private Hospital as Healthscope faces receivership
Phoebe Mansell Members are yet to be advised from Healthscope on the rumours that are circulating around what is going to happen with Hobart Private. Obviously there was some concerns and rumours circulating around late last week. We are writing to Healthscope CEO and the Tasmanian Minister for Health seeking urgent information and assurances with regard to the ongoing operation of Healthscope Hospitals. But members are disappointed that they are hearing about this through the media as they did when midwifery services were removed. Leon Compton To that listener, and I think you were on hold while I read out that text, someone who's waited years for surgery, it's happening at the Hobart Private Hospital in a couple of days time. On your best understanding, that listener should also understand that its operations will continue while solutions are found. Is that your understanding of how things will look? Phoebe Mansell Well, yes, look, we understand that's what will occur. However, we haven't had any official correspondence back from Healthscope. So yeah, look, I mean, members will continue to provide the best care that they can do for their patients, even through this period of uncertainty. But yes, I guess we really need to hear further from Healthscope. Leon Compton Phoebe Mansell, on your professional assessment, what would the implications be for the Tasmanian healthcare system if the operators of the Hobart Private, I mean, they've already said, as you mentioned, they're stepping away from maternity later this year. What if it's, you know, if they stepped away from the Hobart Private altogether? What would that mean? Phoebe Mansell Well, look, I mean, 150 beds at the Hobart Private, we can't afford to lose 150 private sector beds in the Tasmanian state. So our focus now will be really working hard with state and federal governments and stakeholders to try and keep Healthscope hospitals open. Of course, we'll also be looking at to try and protect the jobs and entitlements of our members working in those facilities, but particularly for us, the Hobart Private.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Blow for women' as hospitals shut maternity wards
Maternity wards at two private hospitals are set to close in a move labelled a "disappointing blow" to women seeking maternity care. Healthscope announced it would cease maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospital from April 17 and August 20, respectively. The private provider cited a declining birth rate and local skills shortages in Darwin and ongoing workforce challenges in Hobart as reasons for the closures. Despite a national recruitment campaign over the past 12 months, Hobart Private had been unable to attract qualified midwives to work in the maternity ward, Healthscope Victoria/Tasmania state manager Chris Hewison said. Instead, the hospital has been flying in and accommodating up to six full-time agency midwives, half the midwives needed to staff the ward, to maintain a safe service for families in Hobart. Hobart Private oversaw 510 births in 2024, in its seven birthing suites with about 23 beds. "This is an extremely challenging day and this decision has not been reached easily," Mr Hewison told reporters in Hobart. "This is about our ability to attract and retain suitably qualified midwives and the workforce shortages we've been experiencing." But the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Tasmanian branch believed the decision was because of poor revenue from obstetrics. "It is disappointing that yet again Healthscope have put profit over patient care and sadly it is women and babies that will again be most affected with a reduction in maternity care options for women in the south of the state," the federation's Tasmanian branch secretary Emily Shepherd said. "This is another disappointing blow for women in the south of the state, removing more options for women to birth with now limited private options." Insurers needed to step up and pay hospitals for delivering healthcare, Australian Medical Association Tasmania branch president Michael Lumsden-Steel said. "What we need to do is reset the conversation with the health insurers," Dr Michael Lumsden-Steel said. "It's time to say, look, you're taking the money from the patients (and) it's time to pay the hospitals to deliver the product that patients are receiving." Birth rates at Darwin Private Hospital have steadily declined over the past decade, from nearly 700 births in 2013 to less than 300 births in 2024. The maternity situation had been worsened by increasing difficulty accessing experienced clinicians, in particular pediatricians. These two factors were behind the decision to close the private hospital's maternity ward, Healthscope's NT manager Tim Daniel said. "This was an incredibly difficult decision - we understand the significance of maternity services to families and the community, and we deeply regret the inconvenience and concern that the loss of this service will cause," he said. Health funds would support affected members to find alternative maternity care, Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Rachel David said. But she rejected the claim private maternity units were closing because of a lack of funding from health insurers. "The barriers to sustainable private maternity services have little to do with health funds and won't be fixed by additional funding to private hospitals alone," she said. "They include the shortage of obstetricians, midwives, anaesthetists and paediatricians in some parts of Australia."
