Doctors’ concern about patient care at FSH in Perth revealed

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  Finished Fiona Stanley Hospital main entrance in Murdoch 87 January 2015

Senior doctors have strong concerns about patient care at Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital, a survey conducted by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has revealed.

Nearly 670 doctors responded to the AMA’s survey about the reconfiguration of South Metropolitan Health Service and Fiona Stanley Hospital, including 108 people who identified as senior doctors at the hospital.

The results showed more than 60 per cent of senior doctors felt the hospital’s commissioning was managed poorly or very poorly.

More than half of senior doctors also felt patient care and safety was compromised during that time, while 67 per cent felt new systems at the hospital had also jeopardised treatments.

Nineteen per cent felt it was regularly compromised and presents significants dangers, while 40 per cent believed care was acceptable or better than expected in the context of a new hospital during commissioning.

AMA WA president Michael Gannon said the results were a wake-up call for the Health Department.

“We got very similar views from a broad group of people, not just consultant doctors well established in the system, but junior doctors as well,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it proved what we have been saying for sometime and that is, that the planning has been years behind.

“We never underestimated the scale of the reconfiguration of South Metro Health Service, we never underestimated how difficult it was downsizing Fremantle, downsizing Royal Perth, building a new hospital on a greenfields site, unfortunately the Health Department did.

Dr Gannon said a number of inefficiencies had led to patient care and safety being compromised.

“Some of the inefficiencies of transferring patients around the hospital with the use of porters, some of the inefficiencies with IT, some of the problems with communicating to other parts of the hospital, some of the problems with referrals. They all made the system extremely inefficient and at some stages risked the health of patients,” he said.

Health Department ‘needs to start listening to doctors more’

Nearly 70 per cent of doctors rated the resolution of operational issues which have arisen since the opening of Fiona Stanley Hospital as being handled poorly or very poorly.

More than half of senior doctors also felt staffing levels were not adequate to meet patient care needs.

Dr Gannon said doctors are at the forefront of the issues and the Health Department should listen to their concerns.

“It is time for a cultural change in the way the Health Department treats its doctors,” he said.

“They need to start listening to doctors more, not regard them as the enemy.

“Too often when senior doctors leave the public hospital system, there is no desire to ask the question, why, there is just a desire to import other doctors from overseas.”

The AMA said the director general of health has said he will look at the report and has asked the association to repeat it in coming months.

Acting director-general of health Bryant Stokes said he accepted many of the concerns raised but did not believe there had been major compromises to patient care or that there was a lack of staff.

“There is no doubt there has been a significant number of teething problems, and there still are, but things are changing and improving,” he said.

Health Minister Kim Hames said he welcomed feedback and expected any genuine concerns to be addressed by the hospitals and health department.

“For context, this is the largest transformation of health services this state has ever seen, so I’d expect there to be some lessons learned along the way because there are a lot of firsts,” Dr Hames said.

“I do disagree with any idea however, that patient safety was compromised during commissioning of Fiona Stanley Hospital.

“Patient safety and comfort was of the highest priority every step of the way and staff across the health system are to be commended for their efforts.”