Latest news with #NorthernBeachesHospital
ABC News
17 hours ago
- Health
- ABC News
Warnings about patient safety at Northern Beaches Hospital ignored
It was billed as a state-of-the-art hospital for Sydney's Northern Beaches – but seven years on Northern Beaches hospital is mired in crisis. Tonight 7.30 reveals exclusive whistleblower accounts from inside a hospital on the brink. Hagar Cohen and Hannah Meagher report.
ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
Whistleblowers say warnings about patient safety at Northern Beaches Hospital were ignored
Whistleblowers from Sydney's Northern Beaches Hospital say repeated warnings about unsafe conditions have been ignored for years, as internal documents reveal a system in crisis. Senior doctors have raised alarms about dangerously low levels of junior medical doctors, inadequate equipment, and failing technology since 2018. They say many of those warnings were ignored, with internal documents revealing direct harm to patients. A senior anaesthetist wrote that after hours there was no capacity within their team to deal with a third patient, whether that be an emergency caesarean or epidural, and that essential equipment was often left broken, with staff told to "steal one from another theatre". In late 2023, 18 emergency department specialists formally warned Healthscope management that patient safety and staff wellbeing was at risk due to dangerously low night staffing, and severe access block with very sick patients being left in the waiting room and other unmonitored environments due to a lack of beds. "We have all seen direct harm to patients from these occurrences and will expect further major harm if these issues are not resolved promptly," the group wrote. Dr Patrick Coleman, a nephrologist who has worked at the hospital since its opening, said the crisis was predictable. "It was never going to work. "We were ignored. But that's exactly what happened." Northern Beaches Hospital is run by private operator Healthscope, which collapsed into receivership last month. The 37 hospitals they run across Australia are now for sale. Northern Beaches Hospital delivers public hospital services under a controversial public-private partnership. NSW Health Minister Ryan Park told 7.30 the government was negotiating to bring the hospital into public hands, but warned it would not be cheap. "There will be significant costs, without a doubt. We'll probably have to change the way in which it's staffed, there's likely to be issues with their IT system that we have to address – those two things alone are likely to be significant, we understand that," Mr Park said. Healthscope CEO Tino La Spina welcomed the NSW government's plan to take over the hospital but warned the hospital system across Australia was in trouble, saying there was a "chronic underfunding of the private hospital sector by the private health insurers". He says he is proud of Northern Beaches Hospital's overall performance record. "We continue to operate a safe hospital there," he said. "All of the key performance measures suggest that we are a safe hospital and safer than others in New South Wales." Sydney's Northern Beaches were once served by two smaller public hospitals at Manly and Mona Vale. But as the region's population grew, frontline staff said they were running on fumes. "Manly and Mona Vale were getting death by 1,000 cuts," respiratory physician Keith Burgess said. In 2014 the NSW Liberal government announced the two hospitals would be shut and replaced with a single, more modern facility, delivered through a public-private partnership (PPP). It was a model with a troubled past. Previous PPP hospitals nationally had failed, including in Mildura, Victoria and Port Macquarie in New South Wales. But Professor Burgess said he was willing to give it a go. His colleague Dr Coleman was optimistic at first. "I thought, 'Hallelujah, finally we're going to have a new hospital,'" Dr Coleman said. He joined the new hospital's medical advisory committee, eager to help shape the way the hospital would run. But in the months leading up to the hospital opening, Dr Coleman raised urgent concerns. He warned management their plan to hire too few junior doctors was dangerous for a facility expected to treat large numbers of older, more complex patients. "It was patently obvious that the model that was proposed was utterly absurd," he told 7.30. But he says his warnings were dismissed. "I wasn't getting a response. I felt that I was wasting my time," he said. Frustrated, he resigned from the medical advisory committee but kept raising the alarm. "I said it verbally. I said it at meetings and I said it in writing. It didn't make any difference." The hospital finally opened on October 30, 2018. The early days were rocky. Within 48 hours the CEO quit. The anaesthetics department threatened a walkout and, according to Professor Burgess, conditions on the wards were chaotic. "The Healthscope team hadn't stocked the shelves and a whole lot of the basic equipment was not available in the wards," he said. Within eight months a parliamentary inquiry was launched into the hospital's operations and management. Healthscope apologised and promised improvements. In the years since, the Northern Beaches Hospital has been repeatedly engulfed in crises. In February the family of two-year-old Joe Massa went public after his tragic death following critical delays in care at this hospital. The backlash was swift. The NSW government proposed a ban on any future public-private hospital partnerships. And in April the family of deceased toddler Harper Atkinson told 7.30 their story. Emergency doctor Cliff Reid says his colleagues in the emergency department are bearing the brunt of public fury. "Our team has been called 'baby killers'. A junior doctor has had a threat of her tyres being slashed as she was walking into the department," Dr Reid said. "Nurses have been spat on … all following recent negative publicity in the media about the hospital." He said the community should trust the care they receive at the hospital. Despite the concerns he has continued to raise Dr Coleman says patients receive an excellent level of care at the hospital, considering the low numbers of staff, when compared to other hospitals in the area. However, he says it comes at a cost with staff stretched to breaking point. 7.30 has obtained internal hospital records and written staff testimonies that reveal the extent of the crisis. In October 2024, a senior emergency physician warned the ED was fully staffed with junior doctors only 9 per cent of the time, which is just over 15 hours a week, and that the situation was expected to worsen this year. Dr Reid has defended the hospital's executive, saying some of these concerns have been addressed. "From a clinical service delivery point of view our emergency department is very highly performing, has amazing staff, an incredible high culture, a dedicated team that saves lives every day," he said. Mr La Spina denied the hospital's problems were due to cost cutting. "We will never, and I repeat never, put profits ahead of patient care, ever," he told 7.30. "It's what we're all about here and we've got amazing clinicians that come to work every single day to give their best." A second parliamentary inquiry into Northern Beaches Hospital is now underway. And while submissions are confidential, 7.30 has obtained more distressing staff testimonies. One anaesthetist wrote that staffing levels in their department were very unsafe and that on one occasion "we had absolutely zero capacity to deal with any emergency at all during a normal weekday". He warned that after hours "there is no capacity for a third patient, whether it be for an emergency caesarean or an epidural for a woman in labour". Trainee supervision is also falling far below national standards, according to the submission. He wrote that anaesthetist trainees were supervised only 4 per cent of the time instead of the ANZCA (Australia New Zealand College of Anaesthetists) recommended 80 per cent, or a bare minimum of 50 per cent supervision. The department's equipment was also highlighted, with the anaesthetist documenting that the hospital was failing to replace broken or missing essential equipment. "We were told if we don't have one to just try and steal one from another theatre," he wrote. Ultrasound access for their department was documented as dangerously inadequate, as the unit had only two for 16 theatres, instead of the usual one per operating theatre. "The cardiac anaesthetists have taken to stealing and deliberately hiding the ultrasound machines 'in case' they need it," he said. The only other ultrasound technology available to their department is critically outdated. The anaesthetist wrote that a sales representative once confessed to him that Northern Beaches Hospital bought the cheapest model and that "it is the only hospital in the world to buy this model". Staff have raised concerns about inadequate technology since before the hospital opened its doors in October 2018. However 7.30 can reveal that many of those issues persist, even seven years on. In the medical staff council's submission to the auditor-general inquiry, it said that Riskman — the technology used to monitor adverse events — is grossly underused due to being excessively time-consuming and that the data obtained and used by Healthscope to reflect safety records may not be accurate. Keith Burgess, president of the medical staff council, told 7.30 he had never used Riskman. "Certainly I can't think of any senior doctor who has acknowledged that they've used it," he said. Following the death of Joe Massa, the an independent review recommended critical changes were needed for the hospital's electronic medical records (EMR) system. Dr Coleman says the EMR has had some improvements but it continues to be problematic to this day. "The EMR system was constantly crashing. There were times when the EMR system was crashed for hours at a time," he said. "Nobody can access the patient's medications. They can't alter the medications, they can't prescribe medications, they can't look at the patient's observations." He says NSW Health and the local health district absolved itself of responsibility of the operation of the hospital and it should now be held accountable. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
My son's death was not in vain: Joe's Law means lives will be saved
I was often asked, 'How can you be campaigning for change so soon after Joe's death?' or one that close family would ask from a well-meaning place was, 'do you really want to be doing this?'. But my response came from deep grief and fierce love. How could I not be advocating for change? Joe's love and the need for justice and compassion is the driving force behind everything I do – it propels me forward every single day. We commit to standing firm in our belief that access to excellent healthcare is our universal right and should not be subject to substandard treatment at the hands of trillion-dollar private equity firms who only care about the bottom line and not the care of our patients in NSW. Joe lost his life due to a cascade of failures – beginning with the government's 2014 decision to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) model for healthcare. What followed was a string of inadequate policies, broken processes, poor IT systems, individual failures by staff at the Northern Beaches Hospital and a false sense within the community that it was a safe hospital. The fundamental problem is that running acute and emergency services is not compatible with owning a profit-making business. This is the model at the Northern Beaches Hospital and it is broken. We learnt the Northern Beaches Hospital was controlled by Healthscope, a private company that was acquired in 2019 via a $5.7 billion takeover by Canadian private equity firm Brookfield. During the 2019 acquisition, Brookfield pledged to continue funding Healthscope's investments and growth. 'Brookfield intend to provide support for Healthscope to continue developments of existing sites and pursue growth opportunities.' This clearly has not happened. Loading As an asset manager responsible for critical infrastructure, Brookfield had a duty to invest in Northern Beaches Hospital when it mattered most. We believe Brookfield failed both the northern beaches community and the NSW government. In our view, they should no longer be allowed to operate and trade in Australia across any sector. We hear constantly from people in our community who are avoiding Northern Beaches Hospital in emergencies – too afraid to take their children or loved ones to an emergency department operated by Healthscope. While it isn't perfect, NSW has a public health system that is in many respects the envy of the world. The northern beaches are currently locked out of that standard of care. We will not stop advocating for our most vulnerable – babies, toddlers, the elderly – and every person in NSW who relies on a safe and dependable health system. Health must be the first priority on every political agenda. But I believe that when we make morally right decisions – ones grounded in truth, love, and collective resolve – there is nothing we cannot achieve. Joe's death will not define him. Change - and love - will have the last word. Stay with us, Joe, and guide us into the new tomorrow.
The Age
4 days ago
- Health
- The Age
My son's death was not in vain: Joe's Law means lives will be saved
I was often asked, 'How can you be campaigning for change so soon after Joe's death?' or one that close family would ask from a well-meaning place was, 'do you really want to be doing this?'. But my response came from deep grief and fierce love. How could I not be advocating for change? Joe's love and the need for justice and compassion is the driving force behind everything I do – it propels me forward every single day. We commit to standing firm in our belief that access to excellent healthcare is our universal right and should not be subject to substandard treatment at the hands of trillion-dollar private equity firms who only care about the bottom line and not the care of our patients in NSW. Joe lost his life due to a cascade of failures – beginning with the government's 2014 decision to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) model for healthcare. What followed was a string of inadequate policies, broken processes, poor IT systems, individual failures by staff at the Northern Beaches Hospital and a false sense within the community that it was a safe hospital. The fundamental problem is that running acute and emergency services is not compatible with owning a profit-making business. This is the model at the Northern Beaches Hospital and it is broken. We learnt the Northern Beaches Hospital was controlled by Healthscope, a private company that was acquired in 2019 via a $5.7 billion takeover by Canadian private equity firm Brookfield. During the 2019 acquisition, Brookfield pledged to continue funding Healthscope's investments and growth. 'Brookfield intend to provide support for Healthscope to continue developments of existing sites and pursue growth opportunities.' This clearly has not happened. Loading As an asset manager responsible for critical infrastructure, Brookfield had a duty to invest in Northern Beaches Hospital when it mattered most. We believe Brookfield failed both the northern beaches community and the NSW government. In our view, they should no longer be allowed to operate and trade in Australia across any sector. We hear constantly from people in our community who are avoiding Northern Beaches Hospital in emergencies – too afraid to take their children or loved ones to an emergency department operated by Healthscope. While it isn't perfect, NSW has a public health system that is in many respects the envy of the world. The northern beaches are currently locked out of that standard of care. We will not stop advocating for our most vulnerable – babies, toddlers, the elderly – and every person in NSW who relies on a safe and dependable health system. Health must be the first priority on every political agenda. But I believe that when we make morally right decisions – ones grounded in truth, love, and collective resolve – there is nothing we cannot achieve. Joe's death will not define him. Change - and love - will have the last word. Stay with us, Joe, and guide us into the new tomorrow.
The Advertiser
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Ailing hospital operator vows wards will stay open
Patients and staff at dozens of hospitals across Australia have been assured it's business as usual as their embattled private health operator enters receivership. Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina vowed to the company's 19,000 staff that all its hospitals would remain open and there would be no redundancies. The provider, which operates 37 hospitals in every state and territory, was handed a lifeline on Monday when the Commonwealth Bank provided a $100 million loan to support the embattled company. Receivers were appointed, led by McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford who said the focus was to engage "constructively with all key stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted operation of Healthscope hospitals". The company is Australia's second-largest private hospital operator and has been owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield since 2019. Healthscope said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the move was no surprise and made clear taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. "There's already very significant taxpayer support that goes into the operation of the private hospital system," he said. "I want to be clear I expect to see an orderly sale process eventuate from this decision to any owner with no impact on patients and hardworking staff." Patients with scheduled births or surgeries at the company's hospitals should feel confident their procedures would go ahead as planned, Mr Butler said. He said the company had enough funds for "several months of operations" while the sale process begins. "Healthscope will be a very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership and ultimately perhaps operations," Mr Butler said. Mr La Spina said he was confident the business would be sold as a "whole", rather than offloading individual hospitals. "We have 10 non-binding indicative offers - some are for the whole and others potentially could include the whole under certain circumstances. That is the focus," he said. "The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market-leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people." Mr La Spina flagged the company's excessive secured debt and high rental costs of hospital sites as factors in receivers being called in. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said it had been working with members and stakeholders navigating the financial difficulties and uncertainty Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. In May 2024, then-chief executive Greg Horan said even though the sector was "facing considerable headwinds", providing the "best care" remained a top priority. The company came under scrutiny following the death of two-year-old Joe Massa at the Northern Beaches Hospital in September 2024. The toddler died after being wrongly triaged and waiting two hours for a hospital bed. He was later transferred to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick following a cardiac arrest but succumbed to brain damage. Healthscope moved to shut down maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospital earlier in 2025. Patients and staff at dozens of hospitals across Australia have been assured it's business as usual as their embattled private health operator enters receivership. Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina vowed to the company's 19,000 staff that all its hospitals would remain open and there would be no redundancies. The provider, which operates 37 hospitals in every state and territory, was handed a lifeline on Monday when the Commonwealth Bank provided a $100 million loan to support the embattled company. Receivers were appointed, led by McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford who said the focus was to engage "constructively with all key stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted operation of Healthscope hospitals". The company is Australia's second-largest private hospital operator and has been owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield since 2019. Healthscope said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the move was no surprise and made clear taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. "There's already very significant taxpayer support that goes into the operation of the private hospital system," he said. "I want to be clear I expect to see an orderly sale process eventuate from this decision to any owner with no impact on patients and hardworking staff." Patients with scheduled births or surgeries at the company's hospitals should feel confident their procedures would go ahead as planned, Mr Butler said. He said the company had enough funds for "several months of operations" while the sale process begins. "Healthscope will be a very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership and ultimately perhaps operations," Mr Butler said. Mr La Spina said he was confident the business would be sold as a "whole", rather than offloading individual hospitals. "We have 10 non-binding indicative offers - some are for the whole and others potentially could include the whole under certain circumstances. That is the focus," he said. "The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market-leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people." Mr La Spina flagged the company's excessive secured debt and high rental costs of hospital sites as factors in receivers being called in. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said it had been working with members and stakeholders navigating the financial difficulties and uncertainty Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. In May 2024, then-chief executive Greg Horan said even though the sector was "facing considerable headwinds", providing the "best care" remained a top priority. The company came under scrutiny following the death of two-year-old Joe Massa at the Northern Beaches Hospital in September 2024. The toddler died after being wrongly triaged and waiting two hours for a hospital bed. He was later transferred to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick following a cardiac arrest but succumbed to brain damage. Healthscope moved to shut down maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospital earlier in 2025. Patients and staff at dozens of hospitals across Australia have been assured it's business as usual as their embattled private health operator enters receivership. Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina vowed to the company's 19,000 staff that all its hospitals would remain open and there would be no redundancies. The provider, which operates 37 hospitals in every state and territory, was handed a lifeline on Monday when the Commonwealth Bank provided a $100 million loan to support the embattled company. Receivers were appointed, led by McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford who said the focus was to engage "constructively with all key stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted operation of Healthscope hospitals". The company is Australia's second-largest private hospital operator and has been owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield since 2019. Healthscope said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the move was no surprise and made clear taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. "There's already very significant taxpayer support that goes into the operation of the private hospital system," he said. "I want to be clear I expect to see an orderly sale process eventuate from this decision to any owner with no impact on patients and hardworking staff." Patients with scheduled births or surgeries at the company's hospitals should feel confident their procedures would go ahead as planned, Mr Butler said. He said the company had enough funds for "several months of operations" while the sale process begins. "Healthscope will be a very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership and ultimately perhaps operations," Mr Butler said. Mr La Spina said he was confident the business would be sold as a "whole", rather than offloading individual hospitals. "We have 10 non-binding indicative offers - some are for the whole and others potentially could include the whole under certain circumstances. That is the focus," he said. "The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market-leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people." Mr La Spina flagged the company's excessive secured debt and high rental costs of hospital sites as factors in receivers being called in. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said it had been working with members and stakeholders navigating the financial difficulties and uncertainty Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. In May 2024, then-chief executive Greg Horan said even though the sector was "facing considerable headwinds", providing the "best care" remained a top priority. The company came under scrutiny following the death of two-year-old Joe Massa at the Northern Beaches Hospital in September 2024. The toddler died after being wrongly triaged and waiting two hours for a hospital bed. He was later transferred to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick following a cardiac arrest but succumbed to brain damage. Healthscope moved to shut down maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospital earlier in 2025. Patients and staff at dozens of hospitals across Australia have been assured it's business as usual as their embattled private health operator enters receivership. Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina vowed to the company's 19,000 staff that all its hospitals would remain open and there would be no redundancies. The provider, which operates 37 hospitals in every state and territory, was handed a lifeline on Monday when the Commonwealth Bank provided a $100 million loan to support the embattled company. Receivers were appointed, led by McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford who said the focus was to engage "constructively with all key stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted operation of Healthscope hospitals". The company is Australia's second-largest private hospital operator and has been owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield since 2019. Healthscope said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business - which runs the hospitals - had not. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the move was no surprise and made clear taxpayers would not be footing the bill for the healthcare provider. "There's already very significant taxpayer support that goes into the operation of the private hospital system," he said. "I want to be clear I expect to see an orderly sale process eventuate from this decision to any owner with no impact on patients and hardworking staff." Patients with scheduled births or surgeries at the company's hospitals should feel confident their procedures would go ahead as planned, Mr Butler said. He said the company had enough funds for "several months of operations" while the sale process begins. "Healthscope will be a very different beast going forward in terms of the ownership and ultimately perhaps operations," Mr Butler said. Mr La Spina said he was confident the business would be sold as a "whole", rather than offloading individual hospitals. "We have 10 non-binding indicative offers - some are for the whole and others potentially could include the whole under certain circumstances. That is the focus," he said. "The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market-leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people." Mr La Spina flagged the company's excessive secured debt and high rental costs of hospital sites as factors in receivers being called in. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said it had been working with members and stakeholders navigating the financial difficulties and uncertainty Healthscope operates the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne. In May 2024, then-chief executive Greg Horan said even though the sector was "facing considerable headwinds", providing the "best care" remained a top priority. The company came under scrutiny following the death of two-year-old Joe Massa at the Northern Beaches Hospital in September 2024. The toddler died after being wrongly triaged and waiting two hours for a hospital bed. He was later transferred to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick following a cardiac arrest but succumbed to brain damage. Healthscope moved to shut down maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospital earlier in 2025.
