Four fragile bubs were let down

Decent Australians recoiled at the tragic death of a tiny twin whose mother was unable to readily access Queensland from Ballina in NSW for medical treatment, under Queensland’s hard border closure in August. Forced to wait 16 hours for an emergency air transfer to Sydney, the unborn child died. Now David Penberthy has revealed the details of the deaths of four South Australian infants, unable to access appropriate medical treatment in Adelaide. This is a travesty. Adelaide is alone among the mainland state capitals in not having the capacity to provide dedicated ­paediatric cardiac surgery. The infants’ deaths have caused widespread consternation among specialist medical practitioners in the city’s medical community.

As Penberthy wrote on Wednesday, the paediatric cardiac surgery service was axed in 2003 by the then Labor government. The Marshall government, however, is justifiably under fire for failing to reinstate it. Nor can it plead ignorance. It was on notice to address this gaping hole in the state’s medical infrastructure and it took a conscious decision not to fund the restoration of such vital care. That wrong call has left four families devastated this year alone.

In a July 2019 submission, senior clinicians at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital presented a formal case to SA Health strongly urging the service’s reinstatement. That proposal was not confined to SA infants with heart problems, but also applied to babies in the Northern Territory who currently have to be flown to Melbourne. The submission listed “avoidable mortality” as the key reason for reintroducing cardiac surgery at the WCH. “SA and NT children and their families face multiple risks attributable to the current model of care,” it said. The submission fell on deaf ears, with the government citing unnamed senior clinicians who rejected it. Nor can Daniel Andrews be blamed for this tragedy. His borders remained open. Neither entry to Victoria nor treatment of the vulnerable infants was refused by his government or officials.

COVID-19 has stress-tested our social cohesion and medical systems. In particular, the alarming spread of the virus through aged-care facilities has led to the death of far too many older Australians. Every life is of value. Every human being possesses dignity. But there is something especially poignant about the deaths of newborn babies. Not only are their parents, siblings and extended families left bereft, but our nation is also much poorer. Could one have been another Bradman? Or another Cate Blanchett? Such speculation is not mawkish. Even if these little ones never made history, they deserved the best chance at full and fulfilling lives, contributing to their families and communities.

This nation has a superb health system. It is a source of pride and, in this challenging time, reassurance. But the absence of state-of-the-art cardiac treatment for infants in any Australian capital city is not good enough. Once seen as a miracle, such surgery is not uncommon these days. When governments rapidly expanded ICU and ventilator capacity in the face of the pandemic our nation took pride in not callously placing dollar values on life. Provision of the care required in SA is not overly expensive or complex.

The shortcoming must be rectified now; a sad but important legacy of four much-loved babies who did not make it.