Pittwater Life July 2024 Issue

MPs welcome hospital health check
PERFORMANCE: Latest statistics for Northern
Beaches Hospital have been released.
Mackellar federal MP Dr Sophie
Scamps and Wakehurst state MP
Michael Regan have welcomed the
announcement that Northern Beaches
Hospital and its ownership structure will be
reviewed by the NSW Auditor-General.
“The Northern Beaches Hospital is
staffed by skilled and committed doctors,
nurses and allied health professionals, and
this audit will assess whether these professionals
are being supported structurally by
(owner) Healthscope to be able to deliver
the quality of care the Northern Beaches
community deserves,” the pair said.
They said the audit would provide
a real opportunity to test whether the
unique public/private arrangement was
delivering for the 350,000 people who
relied on Northern Beaches Hospital, as
well as assessing whether it was delivering
value for money for taxpayers.
They noted that latest official statistics
from the Bureau of Health Information (BHI)
confirmed that wait times in Emergency
were getting longer.
“Only 49.2 per cent of patients left emergency
within four hours during the January
to March quarter, compared to the state
average of 56 per cent (all hospitals),” said
Dr Scamps.
“This is a significant deterioration compared
to a year ago.
“Constituents contact my office with
stories of unacceptably long waits in
emergency. Doctors and nurses report
chronic understaffing,” she said.
“I am also concerned about the reports
in the media about Healthscope’s $1.6bn
debt burden and the financial pressures
of the private health system more generally.
“I hope the Auditor-General can
reassure the public that the service at
Northern Beaches Hospital is not being
impacted by cost pressures.”
Mr Regan said: “An independent
performance audit will be a very useful
reference – providing more transparency
and clarity for our community.
“Where the hospital is found to be
performing well, we can build public confidence.
Where there are issues, we can
understand and work to address them.
“The Northern Beaches community has
every right to expect the same quality
of services as other comparable public
hospitals.
“After all, that is what was promised
with the opening of the Northern Beaches
Hospital in 2018, when the two previous
truly local public hospitals in Mona Vale
and Manly were closed.”
– LO
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NB Hospital stats
How Northern Beaches Hospital
performed, compared with Peer Group
(like) hospitals across NSW (Jan 1 – March
31, 2024):
• Patients leaving ED within 4 hours:
49.2% (-2.2% average)
• Patients starting ED treatment on time:
71.4% (+9.7% average)
• Patients transferred from Paramedics
to ED staff within 30 minutes: 87.5%
(+12.1% average)
• Median wait time for urgent elective surgeries:
11 days (4 days fewer average)
Source: Bureau of Health Information (BHI).
Health & Wellbeing
The Local Voice Since 1991
JULY 2024 51