Healthcare
‘Ongoing pigeon problem’: Hospital review finds 112 maintenance faults
The NSW government’s snap review comes after health workers raised patient safety concerns over fungus, mould and pigeon infestations.
- by Kate Aubusson
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Hospitals
Patients catch bird lice in NSW hospital infested with pigeons
Bird droppings falling from ceiling vents, dead smells in corridors and bird lice have all been reported at NSW hospitals in the last three months, documents reveal.
- by Angus Thomson
‘They don’t work’: Subsidies to be slashed for expensive spinal implants linked to severe injuries
The federal Health Department plans to slash insurance rebates for spinal cord stimulators after concluding there isn’t enough evidence to support use of the expensive, controversial devices.
- by Liam Mannix
‘Disturbing’: Mould found in hospital after deadly fungus cluster
The mould infestation was found after a cluster of fungal infections leading to the deaths of two patients.
- by Angus Thomson and Michael Ruffles
Calls for needle-exchange program after hundreds of prisoners at risk
Almost 300 people have potentially been exposed to HIV and hepatitis C in prison, but the state government has brushed aside calls for sterile equipment.
- by Courtney Kruk
Public patients out of pocket for accepting surgery program
Surgery Connect was launched in 2008 to ease pressure on the state’s spiralling elective surgery waitlist, and was given a nearly $50 million boost last month. But some patients say it’s left them worse off.
- by Courtney Kruk
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Healthcare
‘These are preventable deaths’: 40 Victorians suing hospitals over the loss of their loved ones
Martin Ang’s father, Richard, was deemed at high risk of suicide just 20 minutes before the treatment order keeping him in hospital was revoked. He died less than two days later.
- by Henrietta Cook
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Sexual health
Drug-resistant ‘gonorrhoea superbugs’ are spreading across Sydney
Health authorities are growing concerned about the limited effectiveness of antibiotics to treat the common sexually transmitted infection.
- by Angus Thomson
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Disability
‘They’re gaslighting us’: More disability homes close as state funding ends
More than 80 group homes for disabled residents have closed, upending the lives of some of Victoria’s most vulnerable people.
- by Grant McArthur and Kieran Rooney
Winter is coming, and Qld’s new top doctor has set her sights on shielding the state
Dr Marianne Gale knows a thing or two about preventable diseases. And now she’s on a mission to combat an illness that floored 95,000 Queenslanders last year alone.
- by Courtney Kruk
The Sydney hospitals where nurses are expected to be prison guards
Alleged killings are predictable when hospitals are treated as prisons, a senior psychiatrist says, as the use of Section 19b orders has become a lightning rod.
- by Kate Aubusson