Hospital patients lose free family accommodation for new apartments

Parents of sick newborns and women needing cancer treatment or abortion care have been moved out of the Royal Women’s Hospital’s free family accommodation, with the Victorian government selling the site to build new apartments.

Hospital staff were angered by an internal memo, seen by The Age, that announced in October that the 27-year-old accommodation service on Grattan Street, Carlton, was being closed with just six days’ notice, without an alternative in place.

Flats at Grattan Street, owned by the Royal Women’s Hospital, will be sold to private developers.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

The accommodation had 14 flats that were available for patients from regional Victoria who had to travel long distances to Melbourne for specialised care, with most able to stay for free.

Now, many such patients are instead expected to book hotels with a $45 per night accommodation allowance from the Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme. The amount has not increased since 2017, while the average price of a hotel in Melbourne rose to $234 last year.

The sale comes as the Allan government scrambles to make major savings as it faces a spiralling debt bill, with gross state debt set to pass $228 billion in three years.

A senior hospital source, speaking confidentially to discuss internal matters, said staff had pushed back on the decision and were trying to book hotel rooms for vulnerable patients with hospital financing – but without an established system, each case must be escalated for approval by management.

Rebecca Aliberti, from Yarram in Gippsland, was shocked to hear that the accommodation had been shut down without a replacement. Aliberti and her family used it for about two months for each of the premature births of her three daughters, in 2012, 2014 and 2017.

Rebecca Aliberti and husband Francis with their daughters (left to right) Makaysha, Kasharna and Shekinah.

Aliberti was prone to early deliveries due to an autoimmune disorder and had to be hospitalised for each pregnancy at 28 weeks, giving birth at 32 weeks. Her husband stayed at the accommodation for about a month each time, and she joined him for another month.

“If it weren’t for the family accommodation at the Women’s, I would not have my girls,” she said. “We need family support around us to get through these times.”

The hospital-owned site is one of six new public land parcels that will be sold by the Allan government under its Small Sites program, a policy announced as part of the housing statement, with developers to build hundreds of new high-density homes.

A media alert issued by the government in March described the Grattan Street site as “underutilised” and “surplus health residential land”.

But hospital sources have told The Age that the accommodation continued to be heavily used by patients and their families until its sudden closure in October.

The internal hospital memo stated that maternity patients and families with babies in intensive care would be referred to Ronald McDonald House.

Other patients – including those needing abortion care or treatment for gynaecological cancer – would have to make their own arrangements.

Medical staff feared that some women, unable to afford a hotel, might resort to driving or taking a train after surgery, or risk sleeping in their car.

The senior hospital source said the flats were rundown, but it was a mistake to offer no alternative. They said staff were advocating for hospital executives to come up with an adequate, long-term solution. “We’re not going to rest until it’s sorted out,” they said.

Another hospital insider, who requested anonymity, said the accommodation catered to hundreds of families each year. Most stayed for less than a week, while some women stayed for months, particularly those with high-risk pregnancies.

They said that while the accommodation needed upgrading, it had provided a safe space for people to rest their heads during a turbulent time. “A lot of women would say it was a godsend,” they said.

Dr Nisha Khot, vice president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said she was concerned some regional patients would avoid travel to the city for the care they needed.

“The cost of having their medical care has gone up significantly because they now have to find accommodation for themselves,” Khot said. “Alternative accommodation should be absolutely the bare minimum.”

Khot said she understood the need for more housing but felt a reasonable solution would be to deliver new patient accommodation as part of any build on the Grattan Street site.

“It is a very disappointing decision,” Khot said. “Women who live in rural and regional Victoria are already disadvantaged on multiple fronts.”

Women’s Health Victoria chief executive Sally Hasler said she was aware the Royal Women’s Hospital was no longer providing free accommodation in some instances, including for patients travelling long distances for a safe abortion.

Hasler said many women from rural Victoria had no option but to go to Melbourne due to limited services in regional areas, and it was crucial that these patients had somewhere safe and affordable to stay in the hours following treatment.

“The combined costs of transport, accommodation, time off work, medical tests and childcare may mean that they’re unable to afford to travel to access an abortion,” Hasler said.

A senior health source, speaking confidentially to address internal matters, said that under former treasurer Tim Pallas, the state government had sought to identify any surplus public land. They said the hospital originally wanted to build additional facilities on the Grattan Street site, but agreed to give it up to the government in exchange for an expansion at Arden.

However, a $5 billion project to build new Royal Women’s and Royal Melbourne hospital towers in Arden was scrapped last year, with the government blaming electromagnetic interference from the Metro Tunnel rail station. Instead, extra floors will be added to the Royal Women’s Hospital, and the size of the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s new Western Building will be increased. The changes were welcomed by the hospital.

A Royal Women’s Hospital spokeswoman said the difficult decision to close the family accommodation was made last year, leading to the land being declared surplus to allow for other uses.

“We recognise that this was a valued resource for regional patients … But unfortunately, the building required significant refurbishment to meet current housing standards and was not sustainable in the longer term,” she said.

“We understand the importance of equitable access to healthcare and are exploring ways to ensure more people living in regional and rural Victoria can access the expert care they need.”

She said staff were helping patients find accommodation as needed, with some being supported financially through the hospital’s philanthropic funding.

A Victorian government spokeswoman said about 70 high-quality homes would be built on the site and 10 per cent would be affordable. There are currently 32 flats, including some that are rented.

“That is more than double the homes currently on the site,” she said.

“The Grattan Street site was declared surplus by the hospital following their decision to close the accommodation service last year,” she said.

She said the Royal Women’s Hospital’s accommodation arrangement was now consistent with other public health services.

The hospital last year recorded a $1.5 million operating deficit, a decrease of $1.96 million, while the Victorian government reported a $2.2 billion budget deficit for 2024-25.

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said: “This cruel and heartless decision by Labor abandons the needs of sick Victorians and just shows the dire state of the budget.”

With Henrietta Cook

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