Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest has been controversial since before it was built.Credit: Nick Moir
The death of two-year-old Joe Massa is the latest tragedy at the Northern Beaches Hospital since its opening seven years ago.
His parents, Elouise and Danny, have urged the state government to re-evaluate its arrangement with Healthscope, the private company contracted to build and run the hospital under a rare and controversial “public-private partnership” with the former Coalition state government.
The deal, which led to the closure of Manly Hospital and reduction of beds at Mona Vale, was contentious from the start, and a series of mishaps soon after its opening did little to assuage community concerns about a private company running a public hospital.
Now, Healthscope is under significant financial stress and seeking intervention from its lenders, the government and its overseas owners. Here’s what you need to know.
Joe Massa died after systemic failures at Northern Beaches Hospital.
What did the review into Joe Massa’s death find?
Joe Massa went into cardiac arrest three hours after arriving at Northern Beaches Hospital emergency department looking “pale and flat” following a night of vomiting and dry retching. Staff performed CPR for 29 minutes, but he suffered irreversible brain damage, and his life support was withdrawn two days later.
In a serious adverse event review after Joe’s death in September, medical staff not involved in his treatment found his life-threatening condition may have been identified and treated earlier if he had been appropriately triaged upon arrival at the emergency department and if the grave concerns of his parents and staff had been “actioned in a timely manner”.
The review recommended urgent changes to the hospital’s electronic medical record system and triage processes after finding the hospital failed to respond urgently to a heart rate considered in the “red zone” and failed to respond to serious concerns from clinicians and the boy’s parents.
How was the hospital created, and why was it controversial?
To understand why the northern beaches community has a tense relationship with its hospital, it’s useful to revisit how it came about.
The Frenchs Forest project was supposed to be the “jewel in the crown” of the former Coalition government’s public-private partnership ambitions when plans were first unveiled by then-health minister Jillian Skinner in 2013.
Instead, the project drew widespread community anger and concerns Healthscope, the private hospital provider paid $2.14 billion to build and run the hospital until 2038, would put profits before patient care.
A shambolic opening in 2018 marred by industrial disputes, equipment shortages, and understaffing headaches did nothing to ease those concerns.
Anaesthetists threatened to cancel elective surgery over concerns for patient and staff safety within hours of the hospital’s opening, and the hospital’s chief executive and medical director both departed days later.
Skinner’s successor as health minister, Brad Hazzard, decided to shelve plans to privately build and run five regional hospitals, and a parliamentary inquiry later recommended an end to public-private hospital partnerships altogether.
What is Healthscope?
One of Australia’s largest private hospital operators, Healthscope beat rivals Ramsay Health Care to be awarded the tender to build and run Northern Beaches Hospital.
The company was publicly listed at the time but was acquired by Canadian private equity giant Brookfield in 2019 for about $4 billion.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the soaring costs of delivering healthcare and rising interest on the company’s mammoth debt have caused an enormous financial headache for Healthscope.
Last year, independent auditors cast doubt over the hospital’s ability to continue operating if Healthscope could not convince its lenders it could turn its faltering financial performance around.
On Thursday, Healthscope’s maternity units in Darwin and Hobart became the latest to close as the sector combats the rising costs of running services for a shrinking pool of women.
What other incidents have occurred at the hospital?
A parliamentary inquiry into the hospital’s performance was launched in 2019 after several high-profile incidents occurred in its first year, including one case where a cancer patient had the wrong side of his colon removed due to an error in his pathology report.
In 2019, Healthscope was accused of offering staff a $500 incentive to get public emergency room patients to use their private health coverage.
A parliamentary inquiry, launched after high-profile incidents and concerns, heard ambulances had been “directed not to bring patients who appear to be having a heart attack to Northern Beaches” because it was not part of the services the hospital is required to provide.
A coronial report into the death of Joshua Gill, which occurred days after he was discharged from the hospital, found the 14-year-old would have benefited if the hospital “had the capacity to offer age-appropriate inpatient treatment”.
The former Coalition government committed $7.5 million towards building a four-bed adolescent mental health, drug and alcohol unit at the hospital, but Healthscope abandoned these plans last year, enraging the Gill family and the community.
What has the NSW government said?
Premier Chris Minns said Health Minister Ryan Park was meeting the family on Thursday, and the government would not rule out further inquiries.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. I can only imagine the pain that they’re going through,” Minns said. “They’re after answers for their own family, but they’re also after answers to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.