Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina has used a private briefing with staff to rubbish health insurance giant Bupa’s chances of buying the collapsed private hospital business, and raised Brookfield Asset Management’s embarrassment at losing its investment.

In an extraordinarily frank discussion with hospital staff and doctors after the company fell into receivership last week, La Spina said Bupa would buy Healthscope “over my dead body”, adding that Brookfield exited its ownership with its “tail between its legs”.