Northern Beaches deserve clarity on private services

Last week, the state government announced the controversial public-private partnership at Northern Beaches Hospital would come to an end.

The agreement was for Healthscope to operate public and private health services at the Frenchs Forest hospital, which opened in 2018 following the closure of public hospitals at Mona Vale and Manly, for 20 years.

But, after a series of concerning incidents – from a cancer patient having the wrong side of their colon removed during the hospital’s first year of operation, through to the tragic death of toddler Joe Massa in emergency revealed in February – the government expects take full control of the hospital from Healthscope by the middle of next year.

The private operator’s financial situation – Healthscope went into receivership in May with $1.6 billion in debt – also did little to instil confidence in the arrangement.

Ultimately, the Northern Beaches deal was untenable for NSW’s gold-standard public health system. Premier Chris Minns’ government has made the right call bringing public services back under government control.

The takeover will cost taxpayers $190 million. A bargain, compared to the figure in the original contract between the state government and Healthscope, which Minns said on Tuesday was “north of $800 million”.

But with less than a year until the deal is set to be done, Northern Beaches locals need more information about what is happening to the private arm of their hospital: a major facility providing elective surgery, cancer care, maternity and other services to privately insured and self-funding patients.

The state branch of the Australian Medical Association is calling for the government to ensure Northern Beaches Hospital continues to provide private services, raising concerns about staff departures following the decision.

In a statement, the association noted that, while senior medical staff at the hospital agree that Northern Sydney Local Health District should operate the hospital’s public arm, more than 200 such staff recently passed a resolution supporting continuing private services for the community.

In the Northern Beaches area, the rate of private health coverage is among the highest in the country, estimated by industry group Private Healthcare Australia at about 79 per cent of the population (the national rate is 55 per cent).

It also has one of the oldest populations in Sydney, who use private health services to access timely elective surgery, keeping them off lengthy public waitlists and, hopefully, keeping them well enough to rely on fewer medical services down the line.

For younger residents, closure of private maternity services at Northern Beaches Hospital would also have a significant impact. Private operators and insurers have been in disagreement on how to keep private maternity services open, following multiple closures – and hundreds of thousands of Australians abandoning the needed gold-tier coverage – in recent years, but fewer beds will, again, only place stress on the public system.

Whatever their stage of life, Northern Beaches residents were promised private services as part of this partnership. They deserve to know whether these will be maintained.

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