Latest news with #MaddyHarradence
The Age
6 days ago
- Health
- The Age
Health funding Victoria: Dandenong Hospital planning to redirect riskier births
Dandenong Hospital obstetricians and midwives have been told, in documentation and staff meetings, that Monash Health plans to reduce the capacity and capability of the hospital's special care nursery in coming months. The current plan suggests women with medium-risk pregnancies will no longer birth at Dandenong Hospital. These women and newborns needing specialist care will instead be transferred to Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, Casey Hospital in Berwick, or another health service. Due to ongoing consultations, it is not yet known exactly how many midwifery roles will be relocated from Dandenong to Clayton, but staff at Monash Medical Centre have been told many new positions will be created there. Dandenong Hospital has previously catered for premature and unwell babies born at 34 weeks. Under the current proposal, Dandenong would continue to care for low-risk women and newborns. In Australia, a moderate-risk pregnancy is generally categorised as a mother having a history of health complications or developing one during pregnancy such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease. These women generally require more frequent check-ups, a personalised care plan and their babies may need additional care when born. A baby born at 34 weeks is considered to be a late preterm infant. These babies may require a short stay in a special care nursery to assist with things like maintaining their body temperature. One midwifery source with links to Dandenong Hospital, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to speak publicly, said she had regularly cared for refugees with complex needs and little to no English. Some were survivors of female genital mutilation, they said, and some walked through the hospital doors for the first time without any family members – only to deliver their baby less than an hour later. 'Could you get a more vulnerable group of women? Probably not,' the midwifery source said. 'These women deserve gold standard, midwifery-led continuity of care in a local community, culturally attuned to their needs.' A second midwifery source described the changes as cuts. Loading The union also says that, as of last week, Monash Health has not consulted with Victoria's Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval (PIPER) service, which transports women and neonates across the state as required. ANMF state secretary Maddy Harradence, who took over from long-serving secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick last month, said her members had been fighting for years to prevent the relocation of medium-risk birthing and neonatal services to Casey Hospital. 'Women who were planning to have their baby at Dandenong Hospital will be distressed at the thought of having to relocate further away from home for their birthing needs or to visit their unwell baby who could have been cared for close to home at Dandenong Hospital,' Harradence said. The Monash Health spokesperson said Dandenong would continue to provide excellent maternity and newborn services for the local community. 'Under our proposal, higher risk pregnancies and newborns who require specialist care will be managed at Casey Hospital or Monash Medical Centre and Monash Children's Hospital, where the necessary expertise and resources are concentrated to ensure the safest possible outcomes for mothers and babies.' Monash Health is not the first health service looking to consolidate its services. Earlier this year, this masthead revealed management at Eastern Health wanted Maroondah Hospital to drop speciality paediatric services in favour of an expanded paediatrics hub at sister hospital Box Hill. The government stepped in to block the proposal after the reporting. A spokesperson for Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the proposals had been supported by Safer Care Victoria. '[They] involve full consultation, no budget cuts or impact on frontline staff.' While the May budget handed a record $31 billion spending to Victoria's health system, hospitals are also being asked by the health department to find efficiencies where they can. Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the proposed changes to Dandenong Hospital's special care nursery would lead to worse outcomes for some of Victoria's most vulnerable women. 'Labor can't manage money, can't manage health and it's Victorians who are paying the price.'
The Advertiser
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Advertiser
Healthcare provider's collapse prompts reform demands
The viability of private healthcare is under the microscope following the collapse of a major hospital operator, with one union casting doubt on private equity management in the sector. Healthscope, which operates 37 hospitals across every state and territory, has vowed it will be business as usual for patients and staff after entering receivership. Unions called on governments to reassess the sustainability of the health system, including how public healthcare is funded and delivered within the private sector. "We don't want to see a sector governed by private equity firms like we have seen with Brookfields coming in and essentially leaving Healthscope in shatters," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victoria branch acting secretary Maddy Harradence told AAP. "We know the private sector plays a really important piece in the broader healthcare system but we need them to be functioning, regulated and we need them to ensure a fair share of profits go back into the private hospital sector." The provider, owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield, said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Anthony Scott, a professor of health economics at Monash University, says it is difficult to remain profitable in the private health sector due to workforce shortages, the cost of living and rising supply costs. "It's one of those things where it's been very hard to maintain its profits over time," he told AAP. Prof Scott said it would be important to assess how private hospitals are funded moving forward, along with managing contracts with private health insurers. The federal government confirmed on Monday that taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. Health Minister Mark Butler said the provider would be a "very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership". Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the state needed a strong private health system to complement the public system. "I am confident that we will be able to meet the needs of all Victorians and that there is simply, at this point, no need to be concerned," she told reporters at state parliament on Tuesday. In 2022 the Victorian government took over two Healthscope facilities, Frankston Private and Bellbird Private Hospital, to assist with the increased pandemic demand for healthcare and elective surgery services. Ms Thomas said the state government had been watching the ailing company for some time. Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. The viability of private healthcare is under the microscope following the collapse of a major hospital operator, with one union casting doubt on private equity management in the sector. Healthscope, which operates 37 hospitals across every state and territory, has vowed it will be business as usual for patients and staff after entering receivership. Unions called on governments to reassess the sustainability of the health system, including how public healthcare is funded and delivered within the private sector. "We don't want to see a sector governed by private equity firms like we have seen with Brookfields coming in and essentially leaving Healthscope in shatters," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victoria branch acting secretary Maddy Harradence told AAP. "We know the private sector plays a really important piece in the broader healthcare system but we need them to be functioning, regulated and we need them to ensure a fair share of profits go back into the private hospital sector." The provider, owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield, said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Anthony Scott, a professor of health economics at Monash University, says it is difficult to remain profitable in the private health sector due to workforce shortages, the cost of living and rising supply costs. "It's one of those things where it's been very hard to maintain its profits over time," he told AAP. Prof Scott said it would be important to assess how private hospitals are funded moving forward, along with managing contracts with private health insurers. The federal government confirmed on Monday that taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. Health Minister Mark Butler said the provider would be a "very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership". Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the state needed a strong private health system to complement the public system. "I am confident that we will be able to meet the needs of all Victorians and that there is simply, at this point, no need to be concerned," she told reporters at state parliament on Tuesday. In 2022 the Victorian government took over two Healthscope facilities, Frankston Private and Bellbird Private Hospital, to assist with the increased pandemic demand for healthcare and elective surgery services. Ms Thomas said the state government had been watching the ailing company for some time. Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. The viability of private healthcare is under the microscope following the collapse of a major hospital operator, with one union casting doubt on private equity management in the sector. Healthscope, which operates 37 hospitals across every state and territory, has vowed it will be business as usual for patients and staff after entering receivership. Unions called on governments to reassess the sustainability of the health system, including how public healthcare is funded and delivered within the private sector. "We don't want to see a sector governed by private equity firms like we have seen with Brookfields coming in and essentially leaving Healthscope in shatters," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victoria branch acting secretary Maddy Harradence told AAP. "We know the private sector plays a really important piece in the broader healthcare system but we need them to be functioning, regulated and we need them to ensure a fair share of profits go back into the private hospital sector." The provider, owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield, said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Anthony Scott, a professor of health economics at Monash University, says it is difficult to remain profitable in the private health sector due to workforce shortages, the cost of living and rising supply costs. "It's one of those things where it's been very hard to maintain its profits over time," he told AAP. Prof Scott said it would be important to assess how private hospitals are funded moving forward, along with managing contracts with private health insurers. The federal government confirmed on Monday that taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. Health Minister Mark Butler said the provider would be a "very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership". Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the state needed a strong private health system to complement the public system. "I am confident that we will be able to meet the needs of all Victorians and that there is simply, at this point, no need to be concerned," she told reporters at state parliament on Tuesday. In 2022 the Victorian government took over two Healthscope facilities, Frankston Private and Bellbird Private Hospital, to assist with the increased pandemic demand for healthcare and elective surgery services. Ms Thomas said the state government had been watching the ailing company for some time. Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. The viability of private healthcare is under the microscope following the collapse of a major hospital operator, with one union casting doubt on private equity management in the sector. Healthscope, which operates 37 hospitals across every state and territory, has vowed it will be business as usual for patients and staff after entering receivership. Unions called on governments to reassess the sustainability of the health system, including how public healthcare is funded and delivered within the private sector. "We don't want to see a sector governed by private equity firms like we have seen with Brookfields coming in and essentially leaving Healthscope in shatters," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victoria branch acting secretary Maddy Harradence told AAP. "We know the private sector plays a really important piece in the broader healthcare system but we need them to be functioning, regulated and we need them to ensure a fair share of profits go back into the private hospital sector." The provider, owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield, said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Anthony Scott, a professor of health economics at Monash University, says it is difficult to remain profitable in the private health sector due to workforce shortages, the cost of living and rising supply costs. "It's one of those things where it's been very hard to maintain its profits over time," he told AAP. Prof Scott said it would be important to assess how private hospitals are funded moving forward, along with managing contracts with private health insurers. The federal government confirmed on Monday that taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. Health Minister Mark Butler said the provider would be a "very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership". Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the state needed a strong private health system to complement the public system. "I am confident that we will be able to meet the needs of all Victorians and that there is simply, at this point, no need to be concerned," she told reporters at state parliament on Tuesday. In 2022 the Victorian government took over two Healthscope facilities, Frankston Private and Bellbird Private Hospital, to assist with the increased pandemic demand for healthcare and elective surgery services. Ms Thomas said the state government had been watching the ailing company for some time. Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne.
Perth Now
27-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Healthcare provider's collapse prompts reform demands
The viability of private healthcare is under the microscope following the collapse of a major hospital operator, with one union casting doubt on private equity management in the sector. Healthscope, which operates 37 hospitals across every state and territory, has vowed it will be business as usual for patients and staff after entering receivership. Unions called on governments to reassess the sustainability of the health system, including how public healthcare is funded and delivered within the private sector. "We don't want to see a sector governed by private equity firms like we have seen with Brookfields coming in and essentially leaving Healthscope in shatters," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victoria branch acting secretary Maddy Harradence told AAP. "We know the private sector plays a really important piece in the broader healthcare system but we need them to be functioning, regulated and we need them to ensure a fair share of profits go back into the private hospital sector." Healthscope on Monday was handed a $100 million funding lifeline from the Commonwealth Bank, while Westpac agreed to continue to provide assistance to help receivers sell the business. The provider, owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield, said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Anthony Scott, a professor of health economics at Monash University, says it is difficult to remain profitable in the private health sector due to workforce shortages, the cost of living and rising supply costs. "It's one of those things where it's been very hard to maintain its profits over time," he told AAP. Prof Scott said it would be important to assess how private hospitals are funded moving forward, along with managing contracts with private health insurers. The federal government confirmed on Monday that taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. Health Minister Mark Butler said the provider would be a "very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership". Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the state needed a strong private health system to complement the public system. "I am confident that we will be able to meet the needs of all Victorians and that there is simply, at this point, no need to be concerned," she told reporters at state parliament on Tuesday. In 2022 the Victorian government took over two Healthscope facilities, Frankston Private and Bellbird Private Hospital, to assist with the increased pandemic demand for healthcare and elective surgery services. Ms Thomas said the state government had been watching the ailing company for some time. Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne.
