Doctors attacking each other in stoush over cardiac services

It was the year long battle that was supposed to be resolved last month by restoring diminishing cardiac services at Sydney Children’s Hospital, but Westmead cardiologists have hit back.

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The decision to restore cardiac services at Sydney Children’s Hospital was supposed to end a public battle with The Children’s Hospital Westmead — instead it seems to have triggered more bitterness.

Last week’s resignation of CHW head of cardiac surgery Professor David Winlaw has been followed by angry tweets attacking SCH and politicians.

The chair of the senior staff medical council at CHW Dr Kathryn Browning Carmo wrote the “hijacking Eastern Suburbs” had ended the quest for a centre of excellence for paediatric cardiology.

CHW Cardiac surgeon Professor David Winlaw quit over the feud. Picture: Tim Hunter

Dr Philip Roberts, Network Head of Cardiology at CHW said there was a unanimous group of cardiologists “who actually do the work and have skin in the game” who have not been listened to.

“It has been a political decision about a medical problem and the safety of children in NSW has been put at risk,” he said, adding the campaign led by SCH was “emotionally manipulative”.

The Sunday Telegraph reported last week that Prof Winlaw resigned due to the recent decision by NSW Health to restore cardiac services at Randwick.

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Prof Winlaw championed one centre of excellence to be based at CHW, including the desire to perform heart transplants. He quit because of the decision to restore SCH cardiac services, a move he said was “not excellent”.

Dr Roberts said infrastructure now had to be put in at both hospitals, duplicating services that “is completely unnecessary and creating systematic risk” by splitting personnel.

“It is not a turf war between Randwick and Westmead, all the cardiologists, except two, work at Randwick, and all the cardiologists except two, work at Westmead. We are a unanimous team, where there is dissent is between the experts who are the cardiologists and those who don’t have any skin in the game,” Dr Roberts said.

Angry tweets by staff at CHW after resignation of Prof David Winlaw

CHW medical council chair Dr Browning Carmo shot off several tweets calling the loss of Prof Winlaw “a travesty” and blaming SCH and politicians for his resignation.

“Basically he (Prof Winlaw) wants excellence but NSW politics and the hijacking Eastern Suburbs won’t all for that so he has been headhunted to Cincinnati,” she said.

Dr Browning Carmo told The Sunday Telegraph she has written to the Secretary of NSW Health Elizabeth Koff complaining that the Henry Review, which found concentrating specialist paediatric services at one site was “neither logical or feasible”, was biased.

“As Prof Winlaw said, we need to provide excellence at the bedside and that has to be supported up to the ministry, they need to support us to provide excellence to children.

“I’m distressed they would invest in duplicating really high end, expensive service that is unnecessarily at the expense of everything else that needs to go on in NSW for children.”

Dr Michael Solomon at a rally in support of saving cardiac services at Sydney Children's Hospital. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

Chair of SCH medical staff council Dr Michael Solomon said clearly the feud “was not over yet” and “they clearly don’t like us”.

“We are not in an East vs West battle although the Westmead MSC chair seems to imply that it is. We simply want to ensure that children receive all the services they require at a tertiary children’s hospital. Hopefully the Ministry and SCHN deliver on their commitment,” Dr Solomon said.

“Watch this space, it’s not over yet.”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced on January 24 that $10 million would be invested at SCH for cardiac services.

“We’d like to see that $10 million spent on strengthening the service we already have and lead us to a place where we can have cardiac transplant,” Dr Browning Carmo said.

“I’d like the minister to answer how we can provide world-class paediatric care to children if we are dismantling the service across two sites rather than building on the strength we have at one site. This is unwise spending of taxpayers money.”

Originally published as Doctors attacking each other in stoush over cardiac services