A consortium made up of Hammond Care, Sacred Heart and Calvary Health Care will service the local health districts of Central Coast, Northern Sydney, South Eastern Sydney, Western NSW, Murrumbidgee, Southern NSW and Far West. South Western Sydney LHD in partnership with Silver Chain Group will cover the LHDs of South Western Sydney, Nepean Blue Mountains, Western Sydney, Sydney and Illawarra/Shoalhaven. Silver Chain Group will care for patients in Hunter New England, Mid North Coast and Northern NSW.
NSW Minister for Mental Health and Lifestyles Kevin Humphries announced last year that pilot mental health services would be put out to tender to private companies to deliver mental health, physical health and drug and alcohol support – Dubbo, Orange, Nepean Blue Mountains, Broken Hill, Nowra, and Cumberland are all slated to be privatised. Short-stay mental health services now run by private operators Neami – 10 beds at Broken Hill and 10 at Dubbo (where Darling Street sub-acute mental health service was shut down and replaced by the privately-run service). All new money for mental health is going to the non-government sector.
Medicare Locals become Primary Health Care Networks. From July 2015, PHNs will replace Medicare Locals. These are consortiums which include health providers, universities, private health insurers and some former Medicare Locals. Private health insurers have their foot in the door to primary health care through these networks.
Northern Beaches Hospital (Sydney north) being built as a PPP. Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District’s medical imaging services (south of Sydney).
Possibility of putting Day Surgery at new Byron Bay hospital out to tender.
Announcement September 2016 that Maitland, Goulburn, Wyong and Shellharbour hospitals to be redeveloped via PPP and services at the redeveloped Bowral Hospital to be ‘supported’ by private operators. Imaging services at Lismore Base Hospital are being privatised. Hawkesbury Hospital, privatised by LNP in 1996, resulting in cutting of ‘non-Catholic’ services (eg. sexual health, etc) and very minimal Mental Health services. Contract finishes in 2016 and should be taken back by the government so the community can have the services it needs.
Bulli Hospital is now involved in a PPP, with a local aged care provider IRT adding $10 million to a project that will fund the refurbishment of the 60-bed aged care centre and the addition of 60 new aged care beds. Other public money was allocated from the sale of the port.
The Chris O’Brien Lifehouse is a not-for-profit hospital, but still a private hospital with a collaborative agreement with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Public patients are treated publicly in the private facility. Royal Prince Alfred runs imaging within the Lifehouse building.
As of November 2013, the Sydney Cancer Centre at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital closed operations from the public hospital for most of the outpatient clinics, including outpatient chemotherapy.
The Radiation Oncology Department ceased to operate as a Public Facility and continued operations with some minor works as the new Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.
New Cardiac Catheter Lab at Port Macquarie Base Hospital to be privatised.
Proposal for the private sector to provide surgical services at the new Byron Central Hospital. Possibility of putting Day Surgery at new Byron Bay hospital out to tender.
Privatisation of support services and land at Royal North Shore Hospital. New cancer services with inpatient beds at Albury Base Hospital to be run by the private sector, after buildings are built with public funds.
Home care (ADHC) given to private company Australian Unity. Stockton (near Newcastle), Kanangra (Morriset Central Coast), Westmead, Rydalmere, Bloomfield (Orange), Tomaree (Port Stephens).
Privatisation of Public Health Food Labs: www.change.org/p/katrina-hodgkinson-the-minister-for-primary-industries-stop-playing-with-nsw-health Privatisation of cleaning services at RNSH.
Proposal to privatise 60 aged care beds at Gloucester
In January 2015, the Liberal-National Government announced the privatisation of warehousing for medical supplies to NSW public hospitals. Warehouses will close at Concord, Sutherland, Cardiff, Orange and Wagga Wagga, with the loss of 133 jobs. Medical supplies for the state will be privately run from a single site in Western Sydney.