Daniel Andrews denies future of The Alfred hospital in doubt

Dan Andrews has deflected questions on funding The Alfred while splitting hairs with the doctor who saved his life over calls for an upgrade.

Daniel Andrews and the top doctor who saved his life are at odds over claims the Premier’s office ignored the trauma specialists, but the central question of hospital funding remains unclear.

The Herald Sun revealed on Wednesday The Alfred’s director of trauma service, Professor Mark Fitzgerald, had slammed the state government, saying he was “dumbfounded” the hospital hasn’t received funding for upgrades.

Professor Fitzgerald, provided critical care for Mr Andrews last year after the Premier had a horror fall, suffering severe spinal ­injuries, a collapsed lung and broken ribs.

However, Professor Fitzgerald now has said he has no choice but to speak out over a lack of funding for the hospital, which he says is “well past its use-by date”.

“His (the Premier’s) office won’t even ­return my calls or emails about it,” he said.

“I’m dumbfounded and I can’t understand why The ­Alfred hasn’t been promised funding to rebuild operating theatres that are 60 years old and are no longer fit for purpose, compared to all the other hospitals that have been promised funding by the Premier.

Professor Mark Fitzgerald, who helped Daniel Andrews during his recovery, is ‘dumbfounded’ that The Alfred hospital has not received funding. Picture: Alex Coppel

“When the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons looked at our operating theatres in 1998 … they called them prehistoric. This (funding) has to be fixed.

“You have to play with the cards you’ve been dealt, but at the moment we’re not even in the game. We don’t even know what’s going on,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Andrews said The Alfred would have to “wait and see” if any funding announcements were to be made.

He then disputed how often Prof Fitzgerald had contacted his office.

“I don’t think that’s accurate. He has not been (ignored),” Mr Andrews said.

“That’s simply not right. There was a one-line email sent a couple of weeks ago. That’s been followed up as I understand.”

Mr Andrews added that he was not aware of any calls from Professor Fitzgerald being made to his office.

“Calls to who? I’m not aware of any calls that have been made. He hasn’t called me,” he said.

Mr Andrews also rubbished claims that the future of The Alfred was in doubt. Picture: Ian Currie

“You’re putting it to me that somehow I’ve done this? No. There was a one-line email two weeks ago and if it hasn’t already been followed up, it will be followed up.

“There’s no quarrel between him and me.

“He’s an outstanding clinician. He treats and is in charge of treating thousands of people. He’d like an upgrade, and I haven’t finished announcing upgrades, so we’ll wait and see.”

Mr Andrews said it wasn’t common practice for government to negotiate with doctors directly about hospital demands.

“We wouldn’t often though deal with individual doctors. You would normally talk with the board or the CEO,” he said.

“I wouldn’t ring the CEO to get my test results and I wouldn’t necessarily ring a senior clinician about funding.”

Alfred Health chief executive Professor Andrew Way told the Herald Sun on Wednesday that the hospital “has needed redevelopment for some time”.

Mr Andrews confirmed there were no plans to close The Alfred.

“The only people in this state who close hospitals are Liberals. And that’s not even a political point. Sadly, that’s the history of our state,” he added.

Andrews had a horror fall, suffering severe spinal ­injuries, a collapsed lung and broken ribs.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas defended the government’s funding decisions on Wednesday night, saying it had invested more than $150m in upgrades at The Alfred and the Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre since 2014.

“We have done thorough planning on our health projects to make sure we deliver the support and facilities Victorian patients and healthcare workers need,” she said.

But Professor Fitzgerald told the Herald Sun he could not ­ignore funding issues any longer and accused the government of “stringing along” healthcare workers. “Nobody wants to say anything about it, because they’re all too scared,” he said.

Professor Fitzgerald recently visited an American hospital where patients could receive CT scans in the resuscitation room, he said, saving “one to two hour” delays in identifying time-sensitive injuries such as internal bleeding.

“We’ve been asking for this for nine years, and we still haven’t got it,” he said. “We’re slipping behind.”

Daniel Andrews posted this picture in a health update on social media. Picture: Supplied/Daniel Andrews office

Alfred Health chief executive Professor Andrew Way said the hospital treated some of Victoria’s sickest patients and “has needed redevelopment for some time”.

“We have a detailed plan to achieve this, which we have developed with the Department of Health and shared with the Victorian government.

“To continue to deliver world-class care across 19 statewide services and countless specialities, we must have a safe, modern and reliable environment for our patients and highly skilled staff. We welcome any investment from government to begin our vital rebuild,” he said.

Healthcare has been at the centre of the state election campaign, with regular announcements for new hospital funding from both sides hitting headlines most days.

The Andrews government has pledged major upgrades for hospitals including the Royal Women’s and the Royal Melbourne. The Coalition’s announcements included a new Albury-Wodonga Hospital and a new children’s hospital in Werribee.

Despite holding a senior clinical role, Professor Fitzgerald said he had no knowledge of whether The Alfred was in line for funding, and this made it difficult to plan.

“We don’t know what the future is, and it’s quite an empty feeling,” he said. “We need to know what we’re working with. It’s really affected the morale of a lot of staff.

“At least tell people, ‘Look, we’re going to do it in two years’, or ‘We’re not going to do it’. Don’t spring surprises on us. We’re not just a throwaway line at a press conference.”

He feared ­that experienced clinicians would be lured to other hospitals.

Australian Medical Association Victoria president Dr Roderick McRae said the organisation had been advocating “extensively for increased funding for the public hospital sector”, including The Alfred.

“We have known for years that several of the large inner metropolitan hospitals have had high maintenance requirements including management of leaks in storms,” he said.

“The Alfred hospital in particular requires further investment to maintain the facility.

“AMA Victoria absolutely supports transparency, easily identifiable and objective assessments of how, when and why healthcare capacity is determined.”

Victorian Healthcare Association deputy chief executive Juan Paolo Legaspi said “many” public health services needed funding for upgrades, and called for all political parties to commit to a more transparent funding process.

“Our public hospitals and community health services should understand how their bids for expansion or rebuilding are considered, how they compare to others, and where they are in the queue so they can make other decisions about maintaining their services to deliver healthcare.”

The Health Minister said “nurses and doctors are the backbone of our health system”.

“Since coming to government we’ve grown The Alfred’s workforce by more than 28 per cent so more Victorians can access their world-leading care,” Ms Thomas said.

“We continuously monitor population growth and demand across the health system to plan all upgrades, expansions and new projects to ensure that our health services deliver care Victorians need.