Audit Warns of Patient Safety Risks at Northern Beaches Hospital

According to a damning independent audit, Northern Beaches Hospital is not delivering quality healthcare to its community and its partnership with the NSW government is at risk. This recent audit adds more pressure on private operator Healthscope and the Minns government to return the hospital to the public.

On Thursday, a report released by NSW Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji found that the controversial public-private partnership (PPP) “creates tension between commercial imperative and clinical outcomes”. The report also said that the hospital had failed to act on warnings about risks to patient safety.

“The Northern Beaches Hospital has recorded concerning results for some hospital-acquired complications and has not taken sufficient actions to address some identified clinical safety risks,” the report said.

The report also noted that there was a high possibility that the government would need to assume responsibility for the hospital after Healthscope had made multiple requests to return the public section of the hospital to public hands 14 years ahead of schedule.

“In its requests, Healthscope noted the risk to the viability of the Northern Beaches Hospital, citing insufficient funding, a lack of integration into the wider health network, and strained stakeholder relationships,” the report said.

Despite Healthscope becoming increasingly unpopular with the public, NSW Health declined its request and told Healthscope it must continue to provide services under its construct with the government.

The audit revealed that Healthscope’s financial challenges, including its owners, Brookfield, seeking to sell the business in 2019, were “an ongoing risk for NSW Health to manage”.

Healthscope had won the contract to build and operate the hospital for 20 years under a public-private partnership signed by the former Coalition government.

Under the contract, the state government would pay Healthscope to deliver public services, including maternity and the emergency department.

The deal cost taxpayers $2.14 billion over the course of the contract, which was more than double the $1 billion figure that was publicised by health minister, Jillian Skinner, before the 2015 election.

Healthscope’s Northern Beaches Hospital is riddled with tragedy

After a disastrous opening in 2018, filled with industrial disputes, botched surgeries, and equipment shortages, Brad Hazzard, Skinner’s successor, shelved plans to privately build and run five regional hospitals. A later parliamentary inquiry recommended an end to all public-private hospital partnerships.

The audit was requested by Michael Regan, Independent Wakehurst MP, after hearing a slew of horror stories from residents, staff, and patients.

A $7.5 million state-government funded plan to build a four-bed mental adolescent mental health facility was shelved when Healthscope couldn’t guarantee they could open the unit “within the scope of the commitment.”

This backtrack angered the family of 14-year-old Joshua Gill, who had died just days after being discharged from mental health treatment at the hospital. His death had then sparked public outrage and was the catalyst for a community campaign.

Healthscope was also under scrutiny earlier this year when Danny and Elouise Massa revealed that their two-year-old son Joe had died in September after being left in an emergency department chair for 2.5 hours despite showing clear signs of a life-threatening condition.

An internal investigation into the incident found several serious errors, both individual and systemic, that contributed to his death. Joe’s death is now the subject of a coronial inquiry and led the government to pass legislation that has been dubbed “Joe’s Law,” which outlaws any future public-private partnerships.

A parliamentary inquiry will further examine the safety and quality of services at the hospital, with public submissions closing next month.

In February, Leah Pitman and Dustin Atkinson lost their newborn Harper after Pitman suffered a placental abruption, and the hospital failed to perform an emergency caesarean within the 30 minutes required under a category one call.

The hospital’s operating theatres operate under an on-call arrangement where surgeons and theatre staff are required to be within half an hour of the hospital from Friday through Sunday. Pitman went into labour on a Saturday.

Healthscope has launched an investigation into the tragedy. The couple told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Wednesday that, in a meeting with senior staff, they were told it was not “economically” feasible to run a 24/7 theatre.

“If we drove half an hour down the street to Royal North Shore, Harper would be alive,” Dustin Atkinson told the ABC. “It’s purely the fact that we ended up at Northern Beaches hospital on the days that their theatre isn’t open 24/7 that cost our daughter her life.”

Health Minister Ryan Park and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey are expected to address the audit on Thursday morning.