Modbury Hospital staff concerned decision to move 32 beds to Lyell McEwin will put patients at risk

A NURSE at a busy Adelaide hospital has warned “don’t get sick this winter” as the State Government starts shifting beds as part of its Transforming Health reforms.

Generic photo illustrating doctor and patient

MODBURY Hospital is now operating with just 18 medical beds after the Health department yesterday transferred 32 beds to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.

The move has intensified tensions between Modbury Hospital staff and health bureaucrats, who are at loggerheads over the State Government’s Transforming Health reforms.

Doctors and nurses say the loss of beds at Modbury will reduce the standard of care at the hospital and put lives at risk.

Health officials argue the reforms will bring new benefits to the region, such as quicker access to rehabilitation beds.

The loss of general medical beds at Modbury will make room for 52 rehabilitation beds, up from 28.

These beds will come from Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

Work to upgrade Modbury to cater for the rehabilitation beds started in February, but the beds will not be available until the end of the year.

Medical staff staged a protest at Modbury last week to voice their concerns about the reforms.

Under the changes, people with life threatening conditions, such as heart attacks or strokes, as well as those needing complex surgery would no longer be treated at Modbury and would instead be transferred to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.

South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association president David Pope said he found the reforms “staggering”.

“The Lyell McEwin is not ready (for the transfer of beds) and neither is Modbury,” he said.

“It’s just so dangerous what’s going on.”

Two Modbury nurses, who spoke to the Leader Messenger on the condition of anonymity, said staff at Modbury and the Lyell McEwin thought the changes were “a really bad idea”.

“Our ED won’t be able to cope (and) their ED won’t be able to cope,” one said.

“Any patient (at Modbury) that’s here and deteriorates at night or whatever, will not have an anaesthetist to be able to support them.

“There will not be enough medical support for anyone who deteriorates.”

The nurse said staff were concerned about how the hospital would handle the busy winter period.

“Don’t get sick this winter,” he said.

Doctors and nurses said there had been a lack of consultation with medical staff about the reforms.

Modbury Hospital divisional director of medical subspecialties Elaine Pretorius said SA Health had already consulted with its staff about Transforming Health and had made changes, such as adding a dedicated ambulance service at Modbury, in response to concerns.

“The consultation we’ve had with clinicians has been extensive,” Dr Pretorius said.

“To say we’ve not been listening is perhaps not fair.”

She said the average wait for a rehabilitation bed was 10 days and once the reforms were completed that would drop to three days.

“All of these changes now are setting the scene for the north to be self-sufficient,” she said.

Dr Pretorius claimed at least two doctors whose names were listed among 30 in an open letter against the reforms last month had told her they did not give permission for their names to be included in the correspondence to Health Minister Jack Snelling.

“There were no signatures,” she said.

“I could have made it up.”

Valley View resident David Leaney, 70, said he owed his life to Modbury Hospital and wanted the government to leave it alone.

“I was admitted here with a life-threatening illness at 1.30am (in April, 2015) and if it hadn’t been for Dr Britten-Jones and his fabulous team that got onto me straight away, and if I’d had to go to Lyell McEwin, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Flinders University Emeritus Professor Warren Jones, the former head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Flinders Medical Centre, led the protest, attended by about 50 supporters, against the reforms at Modbury Hospital last week.

He implored people to write to their local MPs to demand they take action to stop the reforms from being rolled out.

“Sooner or later someone is going to die ... and then there will be an outcry and it’ll be too late,” he said.