Health Minister tells ‘negative’ hospital staff to ‘get on with the job’

Health Minister Brad Hazzard has taken aim at a group of senior doctors that he says have been unnecessarily airing the new Northern Beaches Hospital’s dirty laundry, telling them to ‘get on with the job’.

‘Negative staff’ at Northern Beaches Hospital have been told to ‘get on with the job’ by the Health Minister. Picture: Craig Willoughby.

• Northern Beaches Hospital medical director Louise Messara exits
• Second anaesthetist quits at Northern Beaches Hospital
• Unhappy staff complain before new hospital’s official opening
• Northern Beaches Hospital CEO Deborah Latta steps down

Health Minister Brad Hazzard has taken aim at a group of senior doctors that he says have been unnecessarily airing the new hospital’s dirty laundry, telling them to “get on with the job”.

It follows another week of turmoil for the $600 million Frenchs Forest facility in which medical director Louise Messara announced she would be leaving the hospital.

Dr Messara will retain another role with the hospital’s operator, Healthscope.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard speaks to the media at the opening of Northern Beaches Hospital.He has quite a different message now. Picture: Andrew Leeson

On Tuesday a second anaesthetist resigned from their position, following a string of concerns since the hospital’s soft opening on October 30.

The hospital’s chief executive officer Deborah Latta resigned just two days after the official opening on November 19.

Mr Hazzard addressed concerns, and said the first couple of weeks were troublesome. But since then the hospital’s operator Healthscope had “responded extremely well to my expressions of concern” around staff and supply issues.

Exterior of Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest. Picture: Julie Cross

“There are a group of three to four specialist doctors who have expressed concerns publicly and I am concerned that they have not operated within the hospital structure as they should,” Mr Hazzard said.

“In every hospital across the state in either publicly or privately run there are avenues for medical personnel and others to express their concerns... that is done in a constructive way and the issues are addressed.

“I think there are some individuals who have not taken a constructive approach and have talked up the negative rather than the positive.

“It is time for them to get on with the job they are paid quite well for.”

He said he had heard many more positive than negative stories from the hospital.

Mr Hazzard with former Northern Beaches Hospital CEO Deborah Latta and outgoing medical director Louise Messara. Picture: Adam Yip

“I have had family members in the hospital in the last few days, and friends, every single one has reported first-class treatment,” he said.

“One family member described her experience as ‘brilliant and great’ and with very caring staff.”

He said Ms Latta and Dr Messara were brought in to build a new hospital and had done so effectively.

“The management of the hospital who brought it to fruition have now given way to other managers who are focused on improvements to the operational side of the hospital and working with all the staff to make sure all their issues are addressed,” he said.“From what I am hearing they are doing an excellent job, but I also want to stress that the reason we have an amazing new hospital structure sitting at Frenchs Forest is because Deborah Latta put her heart and soul into it for almost six years.

“Louise Messara joined that team and she was, as I understand... put in to take it through this final phase and she did that.”

He argued there had been the normal teething problems for any new hospital.

“When I first became Health Minister the government had built another publicly built and run hospital,” he said.

“I faced very similar issues on that particular hospital, it is not the model of the hospital it is just what happens when you build a massive new hospital and expect all these systems and all the staff to work well from day one, it just doesn’t happen.

“If you compare to other hospitals around Australia, we are doing exceptionally.”