Northern Beaches Hospital will install three critical care over-the-bed cameras to connect staff with specialists during emergencies involving seriously ill babies and children.
This is one of the 13 recommendations from the June 2025 Clinical Excellence Commission Independent Inquiry who found the absence of access to the Critical Care Overbed Network (CCON) was “particularly concerning, as it restricts real-time visual consultation and clinical decision-making support during neonatal and paediatric emergencies – support that is standard in public facilities.” They recommended the installation of the cameras within three months (by the end of September).
The report said that this lack of access created a structural inequity, placing Northern Beaches Hospital staff at a disadvantage by forcing them to operate without essential support tools.
It added that this disparity was an “unanticipated repercussion” of the public-private partnership, which faced criticism in the Auditor-General’s Performance Audit earlier this year.
Last week, Minister for Health, Ryan Park, announced that they were testing the cameras and expected to switch them on in the emergency department, paediatric ward, and special care nursery within a matter of weeks.
“These cameras are vital in providing specialist advice to clinicians on the ground dealing with a paediatric emergency,” Mr Park said.
When a child is critically ill or facing an emergency, the cameras allow Hospital staff to access specialists from the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network by contacting the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS). The cameras allow NETS clinicians to zoom in and look closely at the patient or monitoring equipment to watch for real-time changes.
“One of the great benefits of these cameras is that, when in use, the NETS clinicians can become very involved in the care, often acting as another pair of eyes,” Mr Park added.
“I hope this will provide some reassurance to the Northern Beaches community in light of the tragic death of Joe Massa.
“I would like to thank Joe’s parents, Elouise and Danny Massa, who have advocated tirelessly on behalf of the community for improvements to be made at Northern Beaches Hospital.”
Joe’s mum, Elouise Massa, told Manly Observer she welcomed the news.
“It’s so critical that these cameras are installed, and I’m baffled why they weren’t there in the first place,” she said.
“I welcome the Minister’s urgency on this matter, and Mr Park has to be commended for championing these changes in a timely manner.
“But I have to ask, why did a tragedy like Joe’s death have to happen so that an independent inquiry could happen so these changes could happen? These cameras should’ve been there from the start.”
At the time of Joe’s passing, these cameras weren’t installed and instead Hosptial staff had to use the NETS phone service (which doesn’t provide the benefit of real-time imagery).
In 2020, the NSW government created the Clinical Integration Committee to help the Northern Beaches Hospital work better within the health system. One aim of the committee was to improve communication and cooperation between the Hospital and NSW Health facilities.
The Auditor-General’s Performance Audit found the Committee had been limited in effectively promoting operational links between the Hospital and NSW Health. In addition to issues with patient transfers between hospitals, the Committee said it hadn’t been successful in pursuing integration in areas like installing over-the-bed cameras at the Hospital.
“In the absence of cameras, the NETS team speaks with hospital clinicians via phone, complemented by notes, but this introduces risks for the coordination and safety of the transfer [of patients]. The Clinical Integration Committee has listed this item on its agenda for over two years but has not been able to progress the installation of cameras and it has recently been escalated via formal correspondence,” the audit said.
The Hospital also didn’t have a data connection to NSW Health’s data network, which would have enabled the cameras to be connected.
“I welcome the move to install over-the-bed cameras at Northern Beaches Hospital,” Wakehurst MP, Michael Regan told us.
“This is standard practice across public hospitals, and it should have been here from day one. I support a fast installation, proper training and full integration with the NSW Health network so families on the Beaches get the same safety and quality as anywhere else in the state.
“It is crucially important that our community has the same level of care and accountability, and this is a very welcome step toward achieving that.
“The fact that this basic standard was missing in the first place just highlights how badly our community has been let down by this privatised model of emergency health. How on earth was this not written into the contract from the start? Why has it taken an independent report to force these changes? For some families it has come far too late, and that is devastating. The sooner this hospital is brought fully back into public hands, the better.”
Jacqui Scruby, Member for Pittwater, said she’s relieved the cameras are being installed.
“This highlights the urgent need for the hospital’s operations to remain firmly focused on patient safety,” she added.
“Our community cannot accept anything less. I thank the Massa family for their tireless advocacy, which has helped bring these improvements to fruition, and I will continue to push NSW Health and Healthscope to prioritise safety and high-quality care at Northern Beaches Hospital.”
Elouise wanted to highlight that this is not the end, but the start, in improving the Northern Beaches Hospital.
“There are many other recommendations, like governance, profit, escalation, which need to be addressed within the recommended timeframes, or even better, before,” she told us.
“As parents, we want to lead by example to show our children that you stand up for what you believe in and to ensure the Northern Beaches community has access to a safe hospital.”
Read some of our earlier coverage on the Northern Beaches Hospital:
Parent company of Northern Beaches Hospital Operator Healthscope enters receivership
Coronial inquest after Northern Beaches child with flu dies in hospital
