215 Women’s and Children’s Hospital doctors sign letter warning of danger of cutbacks

Hundreds of doctors at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital warned in October that services were at breaking point. Now they’ve gone public with their anger at the ongoing crisis.

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Fed up doctors say services at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital are at the “point of collapse” due to cutbacks and that children face being sent interstate for critical health care.

The situation has reached such a dire point 215 doctors have signed a letter to management calling for increased resources and warning of the “adverse effect on the safety and quality of care” as a result of cost savings.

Release of the letter to The Advertiser comes as hospital administrators announce a second call for applications for voluntary separation packages, with the prospect of further staff cuts.

The four-page letter outlines a litany of problems and challenges at the WCH.

It was originally sent in October but lack of adequate response has seen doctors agree to release it to The Advertiser ahead of a major meeting on Thursday night to discuss industrial options including ads, posters and an appeal for public support under the slogan Our Women, Our Children, Our Hospital.

215 doctors at the Women's and Children's Hospital have warned health services are on the verge of collapse. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

SA Salaried Medical Officers Association chief industrial officer Bernadette Mulholland said services “on the point of collapse” include childhood cancer and neonatal services.

“The government needs to act in the June budget or there will be service reductions or closures this winter,” she said.

“Doctors at the WCH are overstretched and angry. They have repeatedly told management and the government about the situation but it is getting worse.

“We are at the point where closure of services is a real possibility. This would force women and kids to go interstate for critical health care.”

Ms Mulholland said while the government is announcing new facilities “it is putting a chainsaw through services”.

“The government is obsessed with picture opportunities of shiny new buildings — but people in hard hats don’t treat patients,” she said.

“It is no exaggeration to call this a crisis — we have staff about to leave unless something is done. The only reason they are hanging on is to not let the state's women and kids down.”

Lindsey Gough, CEO, Women’s and Children’s Health Network, said WCH clinicians provide exceptional care to the women, babies, children and young people of South Australia and beyond.

“If they raise concerns with me, I listen,” she said.

“When I received this letter in October 2019 I took immediate steps to meet with doctors as soon as possible to discuss their concerns.

“We have a comprehensive safety and quality program and since this letter was written, WCHN has been given full three year accreditation under the stringent new National Safety and Quality Healthcare Standards.

“We continue to strengthen the way we include clinicians in the overall direction of the network and there’s been a lot of work done in the past few months to our doctors are supported to continuously improve the care they provide.”

Ms Gough indicated that all services normally provided at the WCH continue to be provided at the hospital.

As with normal operations some patients may need to travel interstate due to the specialised nature of the care they require.

Work is underway on a $50 million upgrade to the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital with four clinical areas currently under construction. This includes the neonatal nurseries, paediatric emergency department, surgical theatres and adolescent mental health ward.

Medical staff have recently been engaged in consultation for the planning of the new WCH, the Strategic Plan 2020 – 2026 and the Clinician Engagement Strategy.