Government pledge to ‘right a wrong’
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park told hundreds of Beaches locals that the State Government would ‘do everything it can’ to put Northern Beaches Hospital public services back into public hands.
Minister Park was speaking at the Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH) forum on 14 May in Dee Why, hosted by Independent MPs Michael Regan (Wakehurst) and Jacqui Scruby (Pittwater).
“The NSW Treasurer and I have made a decision to try and right a wrong,” Minister Park told the at-capacity forum. “It’s not going to be easy, but we can get there. This is a model of health care that no longer works. It has had detrimental outcomes and we have made a decision to try and fix it.”
Minister Park said new arrangements would ‘put safety first, safety second and safety third,’ and promised it would enforce nurse-to-patient ratios.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey revealed that Healthscope had told the government: “You want us to leave, so pay us to go.” But said he was determined to ensure that ‘private equity should not get a windfall from the end of the partnership.’
Staff were working ‘around the clock’ on extracting the hospital from the public private partnership (PPP), although the timeline was ‘uncertain.’
Elouise Massa, mother of toddler Joe Massa, who lost his life in September last year after admission to the NBH emergency department, also addressed the forum. Ms Massa described the failings of the PPP as ‘catastrophic,’ telling the audience it was time ‘to do what is right, just and good.’
Ms Scruby stressed that a return to public hands would not deliver improved services unless further operational investment was made.
“There are many failings, with a significant number relating to underfunding,” Ms Scruby said. “It won’t be enough to buy back the hospital. We need improvements and increases to services and that will require additional operating expenditure.
“Doctors who work at the hospital feel they have been ignored and could have predicted the many issues that have eventuated.”
Ms Scruby said that the community’s trust in public services at the hospital ‘was shattered by the heartbreaking death of two-year-old Joe Massa.’
“Joe’s death exposed deep flaws in the operation of NBH. When families walk into a public hospital, they should never have to question whether the system will fail them.”
Submissions to a parliamentary inquiry into the hospital closed on 20 May.