Latest news with #NicholasSpooner
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Marred by dysfunction': Doctors blow whistle as hospital deadline looms
Doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital have warned chronic understaffing and a dysfunctional patient record system pose significant risks to patients, sounding the alarm on dozens of incidents and near-misses that will pile further pressure on the state government to take control of the troubled hospital. In a submission filed on Tuesday to a parliamentary inquiry, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) NSW said the hospital's private operator 'prioritises profit over safety' by rostering minimum staff on weekends, relying on lower-paid junior doctors and failing to update its outdated electronic medical records (EMR) system. 'Our members who have worked at [Northern Beaches Hospital] are hard-working, dedicated and capable doctors,' the union's president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, wrote. 'However, they are working in a system that does not adequately support them and is, in some respects, marred by dysfunction.' The doctors said the EMR, which differs from that used in NSW public hospitals, was not fit for purpose and 'frequently crashes for hours at a time'. On one such occasion, a doctor was unable to check the antibiotic history of a septic patient whose condition was rapidly declining. 'The failure of the EMR had a direct consequence on patient safety,' the doctor said. An audit released last month found the hospital's operator and the government both had known about 'quality and safety risks' with the records system since the hospital opened in 2018. Health Minister Ryan Park said Healthscope, which operates the hospital under a controversial public-private partnership, was 'trying to rebuild' the system in response to the recommendations. Some doctors reported working more than 70 hours in one week, and waking for 10-hour shifts after getting less than two hours' sleep while on-call overnight. Others warned of microsleeps while driving home from a night shift. This workload left junior doctors with increased responsibility under less supervision, the union said. In one case, a doctor training as an anaesthetist was rostered for the first week on night shifts in obstetrics 'despite not being accredited to perform epidurals'.
The Age
21-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
‘Marred by dysfunction': Doctors blow whistle as hospital deadline looms
Doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital have warned chronic understaffing and a dysfunctional patient record system pose significant risks to patients, sounding the alarm on dozens of incidents and near-misses that will pile further pressure on the state government to take control of the troubled hospital. In a submission filed on Tuesday to a parliamentary inquiry, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) NSW said the hospital's private operator 'prioritises profit over safety' by rostering minimum staff on weekends, relying on lower-paid junior doctors and failing to update its outdated electronic medical records (EMR) system. 'Our members who have worked at [Northern Beaches Hospital] are hard-working, dedicated and capable doctors,' the union's president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, wrote. 'However, they are working in a system that does not adequately support them and is, in some respects, marred by dysfunction.' The doctors said the EMR, which differs from that used in NSW public hospitals, was not fit for purpose and 'frequently crashes for hours at a time'. On one such occasion, a doctor was unable to check the antibiotic history of a septic patient whose condition was rapidly declining. 'The failure of the EMR had a direct consequence on patient safety,' the doctor said. An audit released last month found the hospital's operator and the government both had known about 'quality and safety risks' with the records system since the hospital opened in 2018. Health Minister Ryan Park said Healthscope, which operates the hospital under a controversial public-private partnership, was 'trying to rebuild' the system in response to the recommendations. Some doctors reported working more than 70 hours in one week, and waking for 10-hour shifts after getting less than two hours' sleep while on-call overnight. Others warned of microsleeps while driving home from a night shift. This workload left junior doctors with increased responsibility under less supervision, the union said. In one case, a doctor training as an anaesthetist was rostered for the first week on night shifts in obstetrics 'despite not being accredited to perform epidurals'.
