The Labor government led by Premier Chris Minns has pledged $190 million to transition Northern Beaches Hospital back into public ownership, following the enactment of “Joe’s Law,” which prohibits public-private partnerships for acute hospitals.
An initial agreement with Healthscope, the current private operator, and its receivers will facilitate the transfer of the hospital’s 494 beds to public management. By mid-next year, the Northern Sydney Local Health District is set to oversee the facility directly.
Premier Minns emphasized that this taxpayer-funded initiative aims to correct what he described as a misguided choice to privatize the Northern Beaches Hospital.
“We’ve overturned a particularly flawed decision by any NSW Government that imposed a private hospital model on the Northern Beaches community,” Minns stated.
“Acute hospital services in our state, which are critical in providing lifesaving care to New South Wales residents, should remain in public hands. This decision ensures that no hospital in NSW will be privatized,” he added.
The hospital faced scrutiny following the tragic death of two-year-old Joe Massa last year. His parents, Elouise and Danny, claimed that he was subjected to substandard healthcare services.
Joe was suffering from hypovolemia, which is where the body loses too much fluid, and had to wait more than two and a half hours for a bed a the hospital on September 14.
He was not given intravenous fluids despite his mother’s request, and he later died at the Royal Randwick Children’s Hospital.
Speaking to media on Tuesday, Elouise held a pair of Joe’s shoes as she praised the government’s decision.
“We don’t want anyone else going through what we have gone through. The torment, the heartbreak,” she said.
“I proudly carry them [Joe’s shoes] with me everywhere I go. They are making monumental steps in ensuring we have a safe hospital at Northern Beaches Hospital.”
She also claimed the tragic death of her son was not a one-off: “We know that Joe’s case was not isolated, we know that there have been systemic failures in the emergency department at Northern Beaches Hospital.”
A report conducted by the hospital after Joe’s death admitted was a “delay and failure to recognise deterioration” in Joe’s health.
The Auditor-General also released a report this year that claimed the privatisation model Noprthern Beaches Hospital operated under created tension between profit motives and health outcomes.
It is still unknown the exact model the hospital will operate under, and whether some private services will still be offered.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the government was speaking to the local community and health experts to determine the structure of the hospital once ownership changes over.
“What I can’t say yet is the makeup and the way in which that will be implemented,” he said.
“We understand the way forward, we’re going to engage with clinicians directly.
“I’m not looking for pursuing any ideological model. What I’ll let experts do is work with clinicians, work with the community around what that looks like.”
The government confirmed all clinical and support staff would be offered jobs by NSW Health to continue working at the hospital, and that staff entitlements would transfer over from Healthscope to NSW Health.
