John Hunter Hospital doctors' vote on surgical wait times and Hunter New England Health leadership proves suspicions

Senior doctors have said the "routine re-categorisation" of patients to avoid breaching surgery wait times hides the lack of capacity of Hunter New England Health to deliver surgical care, saying it compromises patient outcomes and "obscures important facts" from the Health Minister and Ministry of Health.

If the findings from a poll of John Hunter Hospital surgeons and proceduralists are substantiated, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) NSW has warned the health district could be in breach of NSW Health's Elective Surgery Access policy directive.

A doctor, who spoke to the Newcastle Herald on condition of anonymity, said the externally validated poll - facilitated by the doctor's union - was necessary to gauge the scale of the problem across different departments within the hospital.

The results had confirmed their suspicions in regards to the "widespread manipulation" of wait times for surgery, and lack of confidence in the health district's leadership.

NSW Health has disputed claims that hospitals are penalised for not meeting Key Performance Indicators for surgery wait times, and says there are no links in the state's funding model between surgical performance and local health district or hospital funding.

More than 250 surgeons, anaesthetists, obstetricians and gynaecologists at the John Hunter Hospital were invited to vote on whether they had confidence in the current leadership of the health service, of which 93 per cent of 169 respondents said "no".

The poll followed a letter written by clinicians, and signed by 46 hospital doctors, that described the stress and strain of inadequate resourcing, and how it was compromising patient care.

"As a matter of public interest, coming from medical professionals, this has reached a crisis point and we now are obliged to act," the letter said.

ASMOF NSW president, Dr Tony Sara, told the Newcastle Herald that if the results of the poll are substantiated, and there is routine re-categorisation of patients, the health district may be breaching the elective surgery access NSW policy directive.

He said they had concerns that needed to be investigated and assessed.

"It seems that the doctors that responded are concerned about patient safety at Hunter New England," he said.

"If there is less than timely delivery of surgical care, it may therefore cause an under-representation of resources for surgical care in the Hunter.

"It may mean, of course, that the figures reported to the Ministry are not correct, in terms of benchmarks... There may not be adequate resources allocated to the Hunter, by the state.

"We would hope that it can be resolved."

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said the poll results reflected the frustration and concerns raised by the doctors behind the letter, and the issues raised should be taken seriously.

"They feel like they haven't been listened to, they feel like they haven't been taken seriously, and it has gotten to a critical, crisis point for them - so much so I believe they felt they had to take action in order to prevent any further problems at the John Hunter Hospital," Ms Hornery said.

"I am neither shocked, nor surprised, because I hear rumblings from the nurses, to the cleaners to the wards people to the ambulance officers who have all been telling me in the past couple of years about the same kind of concerns about under-staffing, and under-resourcing.

"It's not only worrying for the doctors, and the hospital itself, it must be frightening for the patients to know that doctors are in this position because they are trying to save lives."

A NSW Health spokesperson said Hunter New England Health would meet with representatives of the doctors who have raised concerns to work through the issues raised.

"NSW Health and Hunter New England LHD take concerns raised by staff seriously," the spokesperson said.

"There are no financial disincentives for hospitals or local health districts (LHDs) regarding surgical KPIs.

"There are no links in the NSW Health funding model between surgical performance and LHD or hospital funding.

"NSW Health continues to work closely with and support Hunter New England Health and its leadership team to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality care to its communities."

Earlier this week, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced he was stepping away from politics at the next election.

Mr Hazzard is the 12th NSW coalition MP heading for the exit at the March poll.

The long-serving MP has represented the seat of Wakehurst on Sydney's northern beaches since 1991.

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