Healthscope statement regarding Audit Office review of Northern Beaches Hospital
17 April 2025
Healthscope acknowledges the Audit Office for its thorough and balanced review on Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH).
The report is further confirmation that the continued operation of the public hospital component of NBH under a public private partnership model is severely challenged, and no longer compatible with the NSW Government’s policy objectives. That is why Healthscope has indicated to the Government that it is willing to engage constructively on an early handback of the public hospital, as allowed for in the project deed.
The report also confirms that NBH continues to meet or exceed national quality standards (on p. 3), often outperforms NSW public hospital peers (p. 5) and performs strongly across key clinical measures, including:
- Admitted patient emergency treatment performance (p. 16);
- Elective surgery wait time performance (p. 30); and
- Ambulance transfer times (p. 19).
In addition, Healthscope has received advice from NSW Health on 15 April that its review of the NBH Emergency Department has confirmed that it is compliant against the eight criteria considered by the review.
Healthscope has accepted most of the findings relating to NBH in the Audit Office report and is actively addressing the areas identified for improvement. Healthscope expresses its condolences to families involved with the recent instances of failure in patient care at Northern Beaches Hospital and is participating fulsomely and transparently in the independent inquiries that are examining the circumstances.
The focus of everyone at Healthscope remains on supporting patients, staff and the community. Healthscope is committed to ensuring any transition is safe, orderly and collaborative.
Tino La Spina, CEO, Healthscope said:
“The Audit Office report released today makes clear that the current public private partnership at Northern Beaches Hospital is severely challenged. This is why Healthscope is offering to collaborate with the Government for the early handback of the public hospital. I want to reiterate that patient care will be put first, and we are not seeking any windfall gain from this process.
The report also confirms the strong day-to-day performance of our people at Northern Beaches Hospital in core areas of care, and I am incredibly proud of them. This has been further supported by NSW Health’s review of the Emergency Department, which has found it compliant against all eight criteria investigated. Our priority now is to ensure continuity of care for patients and stability for staff throughout this process.”
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For more information contact: media@healthscope.com.au
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Background: Healthscope is Australia’s only national private healthcare provider, operating 38 hospitals across the country, and employing over 18,000 people. Healthscope offers world-class patient care, including medical and surgical services, mental health treatment and rehabilitation services.
