The NSW Government has deployed a NSW Health team to work alongside staff at Northern Beaches Hospital to prepare for the hospital's eventual transition from a public private partnership.
From today, the transition assessment and planning (TAP) team comprised of staff from the Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD) will be on site at Northern Beaches Hospital.
They will work collaboratively with their Healthscope colleagues to fully understand the priority areas for when the operations of the hospital are transitioned to NSLHD and NSW Health.
While this work is underway, the key focus for everyone involved will be to ensure there is no disruption to the provision of safe and efficient care at Northern Beaches Hospital, which continues to be operated by Healthscope.
The NSW Health team includes up to 15 senior leaders from IT, patient safety and culture, clinical operations, workforce, finance and corporate services.
Priority areas include the IT systems and clinical applications used by Healthscope, but not in use by NSW Health. The team will also identify other key areas where policy, procedure or practice gaps exist between how the hospital currently operates and how it will operate as part of the NSW Health system.
Negotiations are continuing between the Northern Beaches Hospital Taskforce, Healthscope and its receivers, including working through the highly complex contractual and financial arrangements in place for Northern Beaches Hospital.
It remains the preference of the NSW Government that a negotiated agreement on the future control and operation of the Northern Beaches Hospital can be achieved, but in the absence of agreement, the government has passed legislation to give it the authority to intervene and avoid a prolonged dispute for members of the community, hospital staff and NSW taxpayers.
Quotes attributable to Treasurer Daniel Mookhey:
"This is a critical next step as we progress towards ending the Liberals' failed privatisation experiment at the Northern Beaches Hospital.
"The Northern Beaches community and the hard-working hospital staff deserve a resolution and this team will help us better understand the full picture.
"The government remains committed to reaching an agreed outcome with Healthscope and its receivers and those negotiations continue."
Quotes attributable to NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park:
"We want to see Northern Beaches Hospital transition out of its PPP arrangement.
"For a successful and smooth transition, we need to fully understand the systems, processes and ways of working at Northern Beaches Hospital.
"This major hospital is a complex and busy setting, so it is important we have boots, eyes and ears on the ground to identify priority risks.
"The transition will naturally be challenging, but we want to give the hospital the best head-start upon its transition to NSW Health.
"That's what the deployment of our specialist transition team to the hospital is all about.
"I want to assure staff and the community that our priority is no disruption to the provision of safe." and ongoing healthcare.
Quotes attributable to Northern Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive Anthony Schembri:
"Firstly, I want to thank the incredibly professional and committed workforce at Northern Beaches Hospital with whom we share a focus on delivering safe, high-quality care.
"Our team is keen to work collaboratively with the team at Northern Beaches Hospital to fully understand the systems and processes they have in place, building on planning that has been underway for several months now regarding a future transition.
"As we undertake this work, we will ensure there is no disruption to the care that is being provided to the people of the Northern Beaches. Patient safety and staff wellbeing are our priority during this transition period."
Quotes attributable to McGrathNicol partner & appointed receiver Jason Ireland & Healthscope CEO Tino La Spina:
"McGrathNicol and Healthscope continue to engage constructively with the NSW Government in negotiations for the future ownership and operation of the Northern Beaches Hospital. We welcome this important step in the process.
"Patient care remains the priority whilst the efficient transition of hospital operations is negotiated on a commercial basis.
"During this time Northern Beaches Hospital continues to operate, providing best practice patient care and services. We want to thank all staff for their ongoing commitment to the Northern Beaches community. "
