An investigation into Northern Beaches Hospital has formally launched.
Acting Deputy Auditor General Claudia Migotto confirmed with Manly Observer last week that the audit into operations at the privately operated hospital had now formally commenced, with its findings expected in roughly 9-12 months.
That process has not yet led investigators to meet with any hospital representatives, according to a spokesperson for the Frenchs Forest facility, who said they were still awaiting instruction from the Audit Office.
What’s being examined?
The Northern Beaches Hospital has been provided as a public private partnership, or PPP. Under the terms of the agreement with government, the private sector designs, builds, operates and maintains the hospital while providing free public patient services as well as a range of services for private patients. It then charges the government for its public services under a contract with Northern Sydney Local Health District which runs until 2038.
However, following a series of complaints, as well as representations from Wakehurst MP Michael Regan and Mackellar MP Dr Sophie Scamps, public concern has grown that financial pressures may have led to reduced patient care at the facility – now the only major hospital for the Northern Beaches with the closure of Manly Hospital and the reduction of scope provided at Mona Vale, since the new hospital was built in 2018 while then Wakehurst MP Brad Hazard was Health Minister.
The official statistics from the Bureau of Health Information released in May confirm that wait times in Emergency are getting longer. Only 49.2% of patients left emergency within four hours during the January to March quarter compared to the state average of 56%. This was a deterioration compared to a year ago.
However, the hospital fares much better than other NSW hospitals with patients starting Emergency treatment on time. (over 71% compared to a state average of 66%.) Details on the performance of Northern Beaches Hospital can be found here.
According to investigations made by independent journalist Michael West in May, the hospital appears to be charging the state government at least two times the cost of a public bed at Royal North Shore Hospital.
And so, the NSW Government has asked auditors to examine whether the Northern Beaches Hospital is delivering publicly-funded health services transparency, efficiently and effectively.
Ms Migotto (the aforementioned Acting Deputy Auditor General), said once completed the audit will be tabled in the NSW Parliament, with recommendations to the ‘auditees’ – in this case, the NSW Government.
The Audit Office will be conducting its investigations using ‘follow the dollar’ provisions, which refers to legislative amendments made in 2022 giving the auditors access to look under the proverbial hood of its private contractors.
What if the hospital is found wanting?
What happens after the audit depends on the findings and recommendations made in the report, expected in 2025. It is unclear whether a negative finding could act as a precursor to the end of any contractual arrangement – allowing the government to assume operations – or simply trigger performance penalties and/or improved processes. We asked NSW Health this questions but they said they had “nothing more to add at this time.”
We understand the contract with the operators does provide for government ‘step in’ should a number of conditions be met or certain events triggered. (Page 34)
Should the audit prove operations require no change or improvement, there could still be public appetite for change.
“Where the hospital is found to be performing well, we can build public confidence. Where there are issues, we can understand and work to address them,” Wakehurst MP Michael Regan said.
Dr Sophie Scamps added, “The Northern Beaches Hospital is staffed by skilled and committed doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.”
She said she was pleased the audit would “assess whether these professionals are being supported structurally by Healthscope to be able to deliver the quality of care the Northern Beaches community deserves.”
“I would also like to thank the NSW Auditor General, Bola Oyetunjil, for his engagement with my office and other local stakeholders regarding the scope of the audit,” Dr Scamps said.
“I have been pushing for this audit since the Northern Beaches Hospital declined the $7.5million offered by the NSW government to provide a four-bed youth mental health unit. That rang alarm bells for me. There needs to be far greater transparency regarding the hospital’s performance.”
“Constituents contact my office with stories of unacceptably long waits in emergency. Doctors and nurses report chronic understaffing.”
“Constituents contact my office with stories of unacceptably long waits in emergency. Doctors and nurses report chronic understaffing,” she said.
Manly Observer also reported concerns over staffing cuts from April. The cuts followed news that the Hospital’s owners, Healthscope, and Brookfield Corporation, the Canadian multinational investment firm that purchased Healthscope in June 2019, are restructuring massive debt totalling $1.6 billion.
The Australian Private Hospital Association says just 30 per cent of hospitals made a profit or broke even during the 2022 financial year.
You can read more in our previous article here.
You can stay on top of audit updates here: https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/northern-beaches-hospital
