Health at the Crossroads

The Federal Member for Mackellar, Dr Sophie Scamps MP, is calling on the NSW Government to guarantee that when the public-private partnership (PPP) at the Northern Beaches Hospital is dismantled, the full complement of private health services and beds currently available at the hospital are retained.

Since opening in 2018, Northern Beaches Hospital has operated under a model where private healthcare provider Healthscope delivered both public and private services in the one building. However, the public-private partnership failed to meet the standards of care largely due to staffing cuts and resource constraints.

“It’s clear the public-private partnership model didn’t deliver the quality of public acute care our community deserves.”  

“That’s why it was so welcome when the NSW Government announced that public services at Northern Beaches Hospital will return to being run by NSW Health,” Dr Scamps said.

Dr Scamps warned, however, that the transition must not come at the expense of private healthcare services that thousands of residents rely on.

“If private services are lost or downgraded, we will risk losing critical specialists and force residents to travel out of area for essential care - that is simply unacceptable,” she said.

While the PPP failed on the public side, Dr Scamps emphasised that private health services at Northern Beaches Hospital have been operating effectively and should remain untouched.

“The challenge for NSW Health will be to untangle public from private services without dissolving or reducing the hospital’s private capacity. It’s complex, but absolutely achievable,” Dr Scamps said.

Dr Scamps is seeking assurance that private services and inpatient beds will remain intact throughout the transition to public management.

“Private healthcare is a vital part of Australia's healthcare system and plays a critical role in alleviating public waitlists and ensuring timely access to care,” Dr Scamps said. “With around 77 per cent of adults in Mackellar holding private hospital cover, maintaining these services is absolutely essential for our community.”

The last thing we want is to lose our highly skilled and committed specialists who work here on the Beaches. Local doctors, the hospital’s Medical Staff Council, and community-based health providers have also called for private services, which serve both public and private patients and train junior clinicians to remain in place.

Private services currently offered at Northern Beaches Hospital include:

• Cardiothoracic surgery and emergency cardiac interventions  
• Neurosurgery  
• Robotic joint and prostate cancer surgery  
• Advanced cancer treatments, including radiotherapy and breast reconstruction  
• Private obstetrics, fertility treatments, and paediatric surgery  
• Mental health services, chronic pain management, and trauma surgery  
• Interventional radiology, advanced endoscopy, and oral/maxillofacial surgery  

“Both the public and private health systems are vital to the Northern Beaches. We must get this transition right so that patients, doctors, and our community do not lose the care they depend on,” Dr Scamps emphasised.

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