Staff petition over hospital fears
More than 60 senior doctors and nurses at Princess Margaret Hospital have signed a petition warning the State Government they fear the new children's hospital will outstrip capacity within two years.
In the latest twist to concerns that the $1.2 billion hospital in Nedlands will not be big enough, staff say it is not just specialities such as cancer and psychiatry that need more beds but also areas for other seriously ill or injured children and those needing surgery.
In a rare move, many heads of department joined the petition for Health Minister Kim Hames to future-proof the hospital due to open in 2015 amid rumours Cabinet baulked at adding another storey.
Staff say current plans significantly reduce the number of acute medical and surgical beds and downgrade services for children who might not need specialists but are sick enough to need care at a tertiary hospital.
"The evidence being given to us confirms our fears that the new children's hospital will not accommodate the needs of the population more than two years from opening," the petition says.
Australian Medical Association WA president Richard Choong said there were rumours the Government would merely reconfigure the design to squeeze in more beds rather than provide the extra 100 beds doctors wanted.
"This petition is signed by the most senior doctors and specialists - the people who save children's lives - because they're frustrated they haven't been listened to all along," he said.
Dr Choong said an extra level would cost about $40 million and it would be immoral to see that as too much when Perth Arena ran $389 million over budget.
"What is really important - being entertained for an hour or saving a child and giving them back their life," he said. "At the moment it appears the Government is choosing to entertain us."
The Opposition will launch an online community petition today, calling for the new hospital to be resourced properly. Shadow health minister Roger Cook said many parents told him they feared the hospital's size would be grossly inadequate to cope with the rising number of sick children.
"You can't simply jam extra beds into the current design," he said.
Dr Hames said he saw the petition, and the Government was using the latest population figures to assess paediatric demands.
He said paediatric beds in expanding hospitals such as Peel, Midland and Joondalup had to be also considered.
