Dr David Jollow appeals for midwives to give Northern Beaches Hospital a chance
A leading obstetrician is calling for midwives to give Northern Beaches Hospital a chance, saying the maternity department can only open more beds if they find more staff.
Only half of the beds are open in maternity at Northern Beaches Hospital due to a national shortage of midwives, according to a leading obstetrician.
While no-one is being turned away at the moment, hospital bosses expect to see increasing demand over the next six to 12 months which they will only be able to meet if more staff are found.
David Jollow, who used to work at Mona Vale Hospital, said the department was ready to open more beds.
He said at the moment only one ward was open, with both private and public patients being admitted to private rooms.
He appealed to midwives who live on the northern beaches but work elsewhere to give the new $600m privately-run Frenchs Forest hospital a go.
“We have got the ability to do much more, but we need more midwives,” Dr Jollow said.
“We have a brand-new building, great facilities and fantastic staff, many of them from Manly and Mona Vale hospitals.”
Maternity bosses estimate they will see 170 births in March, which is a 30 per cent increase on average monthly births since opening.
In the next 12 months they expect demand for both public and private maternity services to continue to grow.
Dr Jollow admitted some local midwives may have been concerned about moving from a public hospital to a private one, which was not helped by what he called a “difficult” start on opening last October. But he said the department had overcome issues around getting systems and policies in place and integrating staff from various hospitals.
He also said the public/private mix was working well.
Dr Jollow, who has delivered around 5000 babies in his career, said the facilities and back up at NBH was far superior than what was available on the peninsula before, with a bigger special care unit which can look after babies as young as 32 weeks.
He appealed to local midwives to give NBH a call.
Last month the hospital announced it was launching a recruitment campaign, looking to attract staff from as far away as the UK and Ireland.
Healthscope’s Chief Medical Officer Victoria Atkinson told the Manly Daily last week that the hospital was in the “ramp up stage” and was actively recruiting.
IN OTHER NEWS
There are around 1000 jobs going at the 488-bed hospital.
By the end of the month 340 beds across the hospital will be open up from 185 on launch day last October.
With around 1500 people already working at the hospital, including 530 active senior doctors and more than 90 anaesthetists, a further 1000 employees will make it the biggest employer on the peninsula.
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