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| Mums Deprived of Oxygen at Manly Hospital, Doctors and Nurses Need Support |
| Tuesday, 02 March 2010 | ||||||
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Local mums about to give birth were turned away from Manly Hospital on the weekend, after the medical air system that supplies oxygen for caesarean births broke down, Manly MP Mike Baird said. “I received a call from an anxious mum on Monday morning who couldn’t believe it when the machine that supplied oxygen for her daughter’s caesarean delivery failed and couldn’t be replaced,” Mr Baird said. “It is beyond words that several expectant mums had to be transferred to Royal North Shore at the last minute, because Manly Hospital couldn’t supply oxygen for their deliveries. “There’s no doubt that patients, doctors and nurses are suffering as the State Labor Government runs Manly Hospital into the ground. “How can a hospital operate when basic supplies like oxygen are not available to patients? “Time and again I hear how incredible the nurses and doctors are at Manly Hospital and how challenging it is to care for patients due to constant cost cutting. “Manly Hospital has operated under a cloud for too long, as the NSW Government fails to deliver on its promise to build a new Northern Beaches Hospital. “Back in 2006 the doctors and nurses at Manly and Mona Vale Hospitals wrote to the then Health Minister saying they were excited about the new hospital and the high standard of care it would offer patients. “Four years later not a sod has been turned and meanwhile Manly and Mona Vale Hospitals are being starved of resources. “We have made a commitment that the new Northern Beaches Hospital will be built, should we be elected next year. “Local mums-to-be deserve the peace of mind of knowing that if they are booked into Manly Hospital, that is where they’ll deliver their baby.” MEDIA: Lisa Harrington - 0406 726 880 Read the Manly Daily's article here
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Northern Beaches hospitals Anyone who thinks a 'state of the art' hospital should be built at Frenchs Forest has obviously never tried to drive in that area during the morning or evening peak hour. Add a giant new hospital and it will gridlocked most of the time. The benefactors who planned Manly and Mona Vale hospitals realised that sick people would relish the fresh sea air and the peaceful sites of those two hospitals, which is exactly why the property developers are drooling over the prospect of those precious jewels being handed over to the private market. Even if the FF super hospital is built, will the Liberal Party commit to retaining the Mona Vale and Manly hospital sites as public land, preferably utilised for public health? Manly Hospital Our five daughters and four of our grandchildren were delivered at Manly maternity , We have always been grateful for the high standard of nursing, but how can they maintain high levels in a sub standard hospital,with breakdowns of essential equipment , shortages of basic medical needs, and increasingly shabby surrounds with old fashioned fittings to keep sterile.The situation is desperate, the hospital could lose dedicated staff as they lose heart to go on in a deteriorating situation. MANLY District HOSPITAL I don't understand why MANLY Hospital has to be 'sold off' for development to fund a new facility anyway. My experiences with patient-care & facilities at Manly DH over the last 5 yrs have led me to believe the Hospital is deliberately being run down, facilities closing, staff shortages (leading to increased stress on existing staff & neglect of patients). Why wouldn't the Opposition consider improving facilities, increasing staff and maintaining an originally well-run, efficient district hospital which served the Northern Beaches area so well in the past? Why sell off such a wonderful site which was designed, constructed and run by the northern beaches' communities to enable healing, births, rehabilitation & old-age care (v. important in this area) & all ancillary facilities for patients in the first place ? It would be a much better idea to make a separate Emergency & Critical Care facility elsewhere to cope with our increased population and improve Manly Hospital to cater for all other health, geriatric & general care facilities. MANLY District HOSPITAL I agree with Michael McGrath's comments (esp. about the drooling), however access to Manly Hospital probably isn't much better than to the Frenchs Forest site, unless you're already in Manly (which of course, many are). I also think that just a few million spent on both these hospitals would go a huge way to getting them working well NOW. Fiddly things are breaking down, such as this oxygen delivery system, and steam generation. These sorts of systems need backups - for example you would expect both hospitals to have generators automatically cut in during blackouts. Then there is the facility attrition, like the hydrotherapy pool that was closed. Also the unit attrition, such as paediatrics, based on facile, rubbery arguments about load factors. I know that this government thinks that because there is a high level of private health insurance in the Northern Beaches, that public hospitals aren't needed. Unfortunately, if it's an emergency, even with private cover you go to the ED of a public hospital. And no ED can exist without a full hospital to support it. When you see the wastage at state government level - for external consultants' reports that should have been produced by the public service, for studies that go nowhere, and failed infrastructure projects, you really have to think that there must be a few million to spare for something USEFUL! |
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