Serious safety issues at Northern Beaches Hospital, including the tragic death of a toddler, have prompted a state-led review into its management and care systems.
Community Shaken By Toddler’s Death
The issues came to light following the death of Joe Massa in September 2024. The toddler was brought to the hospital’s emergency department with a severe respiratory illness. He was incorrectly triaged as a low-priority case and waited over two hours before being seen. He suffered a cardiac arrest and later died at Sydney Children’s Hospital.
The tragedy led to community outcry and raised serious questions about emergency response systems at Northern Beaches Hospital. The NSW Auditor-General’s report, released in April 2025, later confirmed that the hospital had failed to address known safety concerns dating back years.
Audit Finds Persistent Safety Problems
The audit found Northern Beaches Hospital had higher rates of complications than similar hospitals, including falls and birth trauma. It also noted weak systems for reporting near misses and managing safety risks. One long-running issue was the hospital’s electronic medical records system, which had been flagged by staff as problematic since the facility opened in 2018.
These issues, the report warned, made it harder for the hospital to identify and fix problems before they harmed patients.
Hospital’s Partnership Model Under Fire
Northern Beaches Hospital operates under a public-private partnership between NSW Health and Healthscope. The audit revealed that this arrangement limited the government’s ability to apply standard public hospital policies, such as staffing levels. It also found the hospital was not well integrated into the broader health system.
Healthscope has twice requested to return the hospital’s public services to the state ahead of schedule. While both requests were denied, the company now says it is open to ending the arrangement without seeking profit.
Government Vows To Restore Public Trust
In response, the NSW Government accepted all of the audit’s recommendations and launched a compliance taskforce to monitor hospital operations. Health Minister Ryan Park said the priority was improving safety and restoring public confidence, not closing the hospital.
The state has also moved to ban new public-private partnerships in acute care, signalling a shift toward stronger public oversight in future healthcare delivery.
Published 25-April-2025
