Lady Cilento hospital to be renamed Queensland Children’s Hospital

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her government’s decision to change the name of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital at a cost of half a million dollars. 100+ READER COMMENTS

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her government’s decision to change the name of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital at a cost of half a million dollars.

The Courier-Mail revealed overnight that the government would change the name of hospital to the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

The move has sparked disappointment from the family of Lady Cilento, who are upset they were not directly consulted about the decision from Health Minister Steven Miles.

Lady Cilento’s son David this morning said he and his family had no consultation with members of the Queensland Government in the lead up to the name change, describing it as “appalling” behaviour.

The family of Lady Cilento has expressed disappointment about the change of name.

“As you might imagine, the family are completely devastated by this,” he said.

“As Queenslanders, we should all be appalled.

“There is no better way, or no worse way, permanently damaging a person’s reputation than publicly expunging her name from a building. It’s extraordinary.”

Mr Cilento has called on the Government to make a public statement to rectify the damage it might cause to Lady Cilento’s name.

“It should be a mandatory thing that they can make a statement that this removing of her name is a dishonor, certainly, but was a dishonor for (no) reason,” he said.

“The only reason people have their names ripped off of buildings and things or removed of their title, is usually for because they’re persons of ill repute or actual criminals. My mother was neither.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, pictured with Health Minister Steven Miles earlier this week, says the name change was not politically motivated. Picture: Dan Peled/AAP

Speaking from a strawberry farm in Wamuran this morning, Premier Palaszczuk said Mr Miles would be happy to meet with the Cilento family.

“Of course the government wants recognise that name symbolically and happy to continue working with the family,” she said.

“There was extensive public consultation on this and I know the Health Minister took on board the advice coming from the Queensland Children’s Foundation, but also the doctors involved.”

Ms Palaszczuk denied that the decision to change the name was politically motivated and promised that not one single dollar of the $500,000 price tag to change it would come out of the health budget.

“There were a lot of doctors and health professionals who were talking about the confusing nature of that name - the fact that it is our premiere Queensland children’s hospital,” she said.

OVERNIGHT: Queensland’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital is to be renamed.

As flagged in today’s The Courier-Mail, Health Minister Steven Miles this morning announced the change back to the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

The exact cost of changing the signage is yet to be revealed but is expected to come in at less than $500,000.

Mr Miles said it would take several months for the name change to be finalised.

“The process could take a few months,” he said. “The signage is the most substantial component. The estimated cost is just under $500,000 and the project will be delivered and funded by the public works department.”

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The money will be drawn from the Department of Housing and Public Works budget – not that of Queensland Health – as the DHPW will handle the signage changes.

The name change follows a concerted campaign from doctors at the facility to have the hospital renamed.

They have been agitating since the former Newman government revealed in 2013 that it had decided to honour pioneering female medic Lady Phyllis Cilento by naming the new hospital after her.

But they kicked off an official campaign this year, gathering the signatures of 900 hospital staff, as well as the support of the hospital’s board and its fundraising arm.

One of the doctors who led the charge for a name change, Dr Ben Whitehead, said he was pleased with the decision.

“We felt it was important to change for a number of reasons,” he said. “Mainly around recognition for the hospital. At a local level, there was confusion around whether this hospital was a public or private facility.”

Mr Miles insisted the move would not draw down on the Queensland Health budget.

The name change follows a concerted campaign from doctors at the facility to have the hospital renamed.

“There will not be one less cent available for the provision of healthcare for sick kids because of this name change,” Mr Miles told The Courier-Mail. He said changes to stationery and uniforms would happen over time as needed.

Medical Staff Association president Ben Whitehead, who spearheaded the doctors’ campaign, welcomed the decision.

He had argued that the Cilento name confused parents and patients.

“Researchers believe the current hospital name causes confusion overseas and jeopardises their chances of partaking in international trials,” he said.

The move to change the name has proved controversial, with members of Lady Cilento’s family questioning the motives, while former premier Campbell Newman lashed out at Labor for considering the move.

“Lady Cilento was arguably the leading female clinician in the past 100 years, and the Labor Party want to erase her place in history,” he had said.

Her son, David Cilento, 82, had said renaming the hospital would “dishonour a person who did so much for Queensland and Australia”.

The Government launched its own online survey, which attracted more than 38,000 ­responses.

About 62 per cent were in favour of changing the name.

The Government has committed to naming something else at the hospital after Lady Cilento, with discussions continuing with her family on how else to best honour her.