The Austin Hospital is trying to scrap most of its surgery services for children under a risky plan that could force hundreds of people to travel further for care, a surgeon says.
Jennifer Wheatley, the Austin’s only general paediatric surgeon, has accused the Heidelberg hospital of planning to cut her service in favour of a scheme that would transfer children needing some operations to the Northern Hospital in Epping or the Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville.
In a change.org petition that has attracted more than 900 signatures, Dr Wheatley said the move would be risky for children with time critical conditions such as appendicitis or testicular torsions because the transfers would delay their treatment.
It could also reduce the quality of care being delivered at the Austin, she said, because some patients may end up being cared for by surgeons without paediatric skills, while other specialists such as anaesthetists would be “de-skilled” over time in caring for children.
Urging people to sign the petition, Dr Wheatley said the plan was being executed “without consultation and impact evaluation”.
“Austin Health should be providing a comprehensive health service including quality paediatric care to its community,” says the petition, which has won the backing of GPs, nurses and paramedics.
Dr Wheatley declined to comment, but Fairfax Media understands she has been operating on about 300 children a year at the Austin Hospital, about half of which were emergency cases.
The Austin plan comes after more than 2000 children waited longer than benchmark times for surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital last year, which has been hit with soaring demand since it opened in 2011. In 2013, its emergency department was so overloaded, it asked parents to seek care closer to their homes because many were bypassing local hospitals to drive to the RCH.
A spokeswoman for the Austin Hospital did not respond to allegations executives were acting without consultation, nor would she say how many children the hospital treated each year. But she said only some operations currently performed at the Austin would be done at the Northern Hospital “which will create a stronger, more integrated regional service where children will be provided with more timely care delivered by a team of surgeons.”
“We will continue to perform paediatric ear, nose and throat surgery, orthopaedics and plastic surgeries at Austin Hospital,” she said. “Austin Health is very confident this will result in a higher quality level of care, service and safety for these young patients.”
The Victorian Greens health spokesperson Colleen Hartland called for the state government to investigate the issue and whether the Austin needed more funding.
“Every major hospital should have paediatric services. You dont want a child turning up the Austin and having to travel 20 kilometres to Epping,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy said: “The minister is aware of concerns about changes to the paediatric surgery program at Austin Hospital, and has arranged to meet with the CEOs and Chairs of both Austin and Northern Health to ensure that children in Melbourne’s north are able to access the surgery they need in a timely way.”