New maternity hospital at QEII being canvassed in big health backflip

The Department of Health is investigating the feasibility of a new maternity hospital at the Queen Elizabeth II site in Nedlands, which would deliver up to 2000 babies each year, despite the idea being routinely dismissed by the WA Labor government ahead of the most recent state election.

9 News Perth and WAtoday have seen documents showing the North Metropolitan Health Service has canvassed the proposal, which would mitigate risks posed by the state government’s chosen location for its $1.8 billion women and babies hospital site in Murdoch.

The medical fraternity had pleaded with the state government to keep newborn services near Nedlands so that high-risk births would not have to travel between 20 and 45 minutes from the southern suburbs site to surgeons at Perth Children’s Hospital.

However, in the lead up to the state election in March, the WA Labor government dismissed suggestions a maternity wing could be built at QEII due to space and cost constraints.

It had previously been suggested a new maternity hospital on the already cramped hub would cost more than $200 million.

“If we were to continue [building] on QEII, the risks were unmitigable, and it would be a building site for 20 years,” then-health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said in February.

The secret plans from the Department represent a backflip in the state’s approach.

Opposition health minister Libby Mettam spearheaded the Liberals’ calls during the election campaign for Labor to reconsider its chosen site for the women and babies hospital.

She also said the election outcome would be a ‘referendum on newborn safety’ — Labor went on to secure its second-biggest electoral win in the state’s history.

“The fact that the Cook Labor Government is canvassing this as an option is an admission that their current plans [for Murdoch] are a complete failure,” Mettam said.

“It is a vindication for all of those clinicians who have spoken about the risk of death and disability for our most vulnerable newborns.

“The Cook Labor government now needs to be transparent about their plans, they need to be transparent about this change of heart.”

The proposal has not been approved, and is one of three options being explored by the Department.

The other options are building a satellite facility for high-risk births at QEII, or no new facilities to complement the incoming Murdoch hospital.

Senior sources said a whole maternity wing was now under serious consideration because staffing a small satellite facility was not economically feasible and demand for maternity services were growing anyway.

However, it is understood the advice has not yet been provided to health minister Meredith Hammat’s office.

“There’s been an ongoing piece of work that the Department has led in relation to consultation… I’ve asked them to come up with some options, and that work is ongoing,” Hammat said recently.

“There’s no firm date I can give you in terms of when that report will come.”

Work on the women and babies hospital at Murdoch was due to begin later this year and was due to open by 2029.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has been among the organisations lobbying against the location.

“A twenty-minute delay, although it doesn’t sound like much, when it is a tiny little baby every minute is critical,” RANZCOG president-elect Dr Nisha Khot said.

“[Exploring this option] shows that people are listening to what the doctors on the ground are saying.”

9 News Perth and WAtoday understands a maternity hospital at QEII would oversee the births of 1500 to 2000 births every year.

Connor McGoverne is a reporter for 9 News Perth who specialises in state politics. He is also an ambassador for the Miracle Babies Foundation, which has advocated against the proposed Murdoch site for the women and babies hospital.

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