Doctor and Teal rep for Northern Beaches, Sophie Scamps, has called on Northern Beaches Hospital boss to resign if the hospital can’t get its act together to address the youth suicide and mental health epidemic on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. What’s the scam?
The scam is the public/private hospital was privatised in the takeover by Brookfield (now bidding for Origin Energy) of Healthscope and, now controlled by a Cayman Islands entity, is notoriously elusive when it comes to transparency. Even meeting with the local MP it seems.
Scamps had called for a meeting with NBH chief executive Andrew Newton to press him on commitments to deliver mental health beds but Newton stood her up. He later said there were urgent personal matters. Nonetheless, as Scamps says, “More than 12 months after receiving $7.5 million for four youth mental health beds, the management of Northern Beaches Hospital still won’t even commit to a timeline for implementing the beds!
Privatisation inquiry call: Cayman Island owners pay no penalty for Australian hospital fails
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.