The NSW Government has deployed a NSW Health team to work alongside staff at Northern Beaches Hospital to prepare for the hospital’s eventual transition from a public private partnership.
From Monday 1 September, the transition assessment and planning (TAP) team comprised of staff from the Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD) will be on site at Northern Beaches Hospital.
They will work collaboratively with their Healthscope colleagues to fully understand the priority areas for when the operations of the hospital are transitioned to NSLHD and NSW Health.
While this work is underway, the key focus for everyone involved will be to ensure there is no disruption to the provision of safe and efficient care at Northern Beaches Hospital, which continues to be operated by Healthscope.
The NSW Health team includes up to 15 senior leaders from IT, patient safety and culture, clinical operations, workforce, finance and corporate services.
Negotiations are continuing between the Northern Beaches Hospital Taskforce, Healthscope and its receivers, including working through the highly complex contractual and financial arrangements in place for Northern Beaches Hospital.
It remains the preference of the NSW Government that a negotiated agreement on the future control and operation of the Northern Beaches Hospital can be achieved, but in the absence of agreement, the government has passed legislation devised by Wakehurst MP Michael Regan to give it the authority to intervene and avoid a prolonged dispute for members of the community, hospital staff and NSW taxpayers.
“The Northern Beaches community and the hard-working hospital staff deserve a resolution and this team will help us better understand the full picture,” Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said.
“The government remains committed to reaching an agreed outcome with Healthscope and its receivers and those negotiations continue.”
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park said the government wanted to see Northern Beaches Hospital transition out of its PPP arrangement. “For a successful and smooth transition, we need to fully understand the systems, processes and ways of working at Northern Beaches Hospital.
“The transition will naturally be challenging, but we want to give the hospital the best head-start upon its transition to NSW Health.
“I want to assure staff and the community that our priority is no disruption to the provision of safe and ongoing healthcare.”
McGrathNicol receiver Jason Ireland and Healthscope chief executive officer Tino La Spina added: “McGrathNicol and Healthscope continue to engage constructively with the NSW Government in negotiations for the future ownership and operation of the Northern Beaches Hospital. We welcome this important step in the process.
“Patient care remains the priority whilst the efficient transition of hospital operations is negotiated on a commercial basis.
“During this time Northern Beaches Hospital continues to operate, providing best practice patient care and services. We want to thank all staff for their ongoing commitment to the Northern Beaches community.”
