'Children will die': Doctor's warning over children's hospital turf war
Doctors have issued a stark warning that “children will die” because of a turf war between two children’s hospitals at Randwick and Westmead in NSW.
Surgeons say infants are being sent from Randwick to Westmead, 33 kilometres away, from heart operations that should be performed locally.
On Wednesday the NSW state government was forced to act, after it emerged that newborns and premature babies are being moved across Sydney because Randwick and Westmead are fighting over cardiac services.
A leading doctor at Randwick Children’s has warned a child might die, and others are speaking out.
“We don’t like to paint it as a turf war but it’s been a real arm wrestle,” surgeon Dr Angus Gray told ABC Radio.
NSW shadow Health Minister Walt Secord blamed the Health Minister and Premier for “pitting doctor against doctor.”
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has appointed an expert to end the surgeons’ dispute.
“I have encouraged them to set aside their personal, professional differences,” he said.
On Wednesday the government made a major health announcement focusing on patients in the final days of their lives, promising $45 million for an extra 100 palliative care nurses across NSW.
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