Hospital stripped of trainee doctors over staff, patient welfare concerns

The Central Coast’s only public obstetric and gynaecology service is about to be severely depleted with the temporary loss of its accredited trainee doctor workforce over concerns for their welfare and the safety of their patients.

The college responsible for overseeing the training of future obstetricians and gynaecologists has stripped Gosford Hospital of its accredited registrars for six months from February in response to the failure to support the junior doctors treating pregnant women and patients with complex reproductive conditions without adequate supervision.

Gosford Hospital will lose its accredited obstetrics and gynaecology registrars for six months amid a staffing shortage.

The development raises worrying questions for the families of an estimated 4100 babies expected to be born at the hospital next year, and staff say the loss will mean more pregnant women will be diverted to Sydney and Newcastle hospitals to give birth.

Trainees are the lifeblood of medical treatment in public hospitals, providing the bulk of services under the supervision of senior consultants.

Hospital staff not authorised to speak publicly say losing accredited trainees will hobble Gosford’s ability to provide services to women in the sprawling 1680-square-kilometre area of more than 350,000 people.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) said that “following significant consultation regarding concerns around clinical supervision and safety, the college has made the difficult decision to suspend training accreditation at Gosford Hospital from semester one, February 2025”.

“RANZCOG’s first priority is the safety and wellbeing of patients and its trainees,” the spokeswoman said.

When Gosford Private Hospital announced it would close its maternity unit in March 2025, the community was assured that Gosford’s public hospital could absorb the roughly 450 private patient births in addition to its more than 3700 babies.

Gosford Hospital’s obstetric and gynaecology already risks being bypassed. Its gynaecologists have cancelled all non-urgent cases due to staff shortages.

The accredited trainees seconded to Gosford Hospital came close to resigning this week over the stress of repeatedly working seven-day stretches to treat patients without adequate support from overburdened senior consultants.

The hospital can attempt to hire unaccredited registrars and advertise for senior locums and visiting medical officers. But staff say these would be Band-Aid fixes for a chronic problem, and after advertising vacancies for months, the required senior staff specialist vacancies have not been filled.

The Liberal candidate for the Central Coast electorate of Robertson, Lucy Wicks, said mums-to-be had told her that they were worried about the possibility of not being able to get the support they needed at their local public hospital in Gosford.

“Our community needs access to birthing services locally, not in Sydney,” she said.

A spokeswoman said RANZCOG representatives would visit the hospital in March to determine whether it would allow its trainees to return in August 2025.

Central Coast Local Health District acting chief executive Jude Constable said the hospital would appeal the college’s suspension “and regardless of the outcome, birthing services will continue”.

Health Minister Ryan Park said it was disappointing that the college had made a “snap decision”.

“We will explore every possible avenue available to us in order to prevent disruption to services,” he said, adding there was no immediate impact on current services.

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