Report: privatisation of Northern Beaches Hospital a threat to public health

The NSW Government’s report into the privatized Northern Beaches Hospital confirmed what many suspected: a conflict of interest in the privatization of essential service monopolies, particularly public health.

MWM first investigated the financial nonsense surrounding NBH 10 years ago. It was privatized and fell into the hands of financial engineers Brookfield, a secretive organization primarily based in the Cayman Islands. Three years ago, due to profit concerns, Brookfield tried to give back the unprofitable public hospital and keep the private hospital. The hospital was returned to the public in April this year.

The findings of the report include “the safety and quality of healthcare services provided by Northern Beaches Hospital”:

The Committee found that many of the Hospital’s challenges were not isolated operational failures but reflected structural tensions created by a rigid public private partnership model aimed at delivering complex acute public health services through constrained funding arrangements, extensive risk transfer and inadequate integration with the wider NSW Health system. Although the Hospital often performed well according to published quantitative measurements, these measurements did not adequately reflect the reality that staff and patients at the Hospital often experienced.

Profits/Patients: privatization of public hospitals does not work

Michael West was founded Michael West Media Focusing on public interest journalism in 2016, particularly the increasing power of corporations over democracy. West was previously a journalist and editor for Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and was even once a stockbroker.