Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Two mornings ago, I attended a strike being held by nurses and midwives at our local Northern Beaches Hospital. The Northern Beaches Hospital is the only privately run public hospital remaining in New South Wales. Along with other local MPs, we wanted to show our support for this group of hardworking carers. These professionals are striking because of the conditions they are being made to work under by the private operator Healthscope. They are being stretched to the limit and burning out. These experienced nurses and midwives are our greatest asset, and yet, every day, more are forced to leave. Tragically, there have been a couple of very high-profile deaths of children at the hospital. These have been utterly devastating for our community, and the hearts of the Northern Beaches community broke for their families. For years, nurses and medical staff have been blowing the whistle on work conditions inside the hospital. Even now, the private operator is refusing to commit to minimum safe nurse-to-patient ratios that are being rolled out in every other public hospital in the state. I helped to get a performance audit of the hospital up and running, and it is due to report imminently. A 2019 inquiry into the hospital recommended that there be no further public-private hospitals in the state. It's clear to me and it's clear to my community that this hospital must be returned to public hands, and I'm calling on the state and federal health ministers to hurry up and get the job done.