On Monday November 3, 2025 Federal Member for Mackellar, Dr Sophie Scamps MP called on the NSW Health Minister to urgently consult with medical specialists and staff at Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH) about the future of private services there, as the public component of the hospital transitions to public hands.
“Medical specialists and staff are being left in the dark, unable to plan for their patients, which is deeply concerning,” Dr Scamps said.
Specialists have reported a lack of consultation or communication from the Northern Sydney Local Health District and the NSW Health Minister Ryan Park regarding the hospital’s future model.
“The lack of consultation and communication with medical staff is understandably creating a great deal of uncertainty and consternation for the doctors,” Dr Scamps said.
Dr Scamps expressed concern that the complexity of the transition discussions has overlooked the vital role private services play in providing comprehensive medical access for the peninsula.
“Our healthcare system relies on both public and private healthcare, and our community benefits greatly from the world-class private services provided at NBH - including interventional cardiology, maternity, gynaecology, oncology and orthopaedic surgery.”
“The Minns Labor Government must ensure that the current private services offered at Northern Beaches Hospital are retained. They should not be interfered with as the public part of the hospital is transitioned to public hands,” Dr Scamps said.
Dr Scamps also raised concerns about the broader implications of a loss of private services.
“If the State Government removes private capacity from NBH, 77 per cent of people across the area who hold private health insurance will lose local options for their care,” Dr Scamps said.
“This has real consequences for timely access to critical services for many people. We must not allow a state decision to erase private healthcare access for an entire metropolitan region.
I call on the Minns Government to be open with their intentions for the private hospital services and to urgently meet with the specialists and staff at NBH to ensure their voices are heard in this transition.
Ultimately, it will be the community who are worse off if these private services are not retained.”
On October 10 the Australian Medical Association AMA (NSW) was also calling on the NSW Government to ensure Northern Beaches Hospital continues to provide private health services – as part of an original promise given to community members and doctors.
The hospital was established in 2018 with the intention that its operator would run public and private health services for 20 years. At the end of that time, public services would be handed back to the NSW Government and the operator would continue to provide private hospital services. That plan still has 13 years to run.
“The community was promised it would have access to public and private health services for two decades. Doctors were promised they would have options in the way they delivered care to the patients of the Northern Beaches,” AMA (NSW) president Dr Kathryn Austin said.
Northern Beaches Hospital head of maternity Dr David Jollow said many staff now felt adrift.
“We know there must be change, but there are real fears many staff, who have been providing excellent care to the community for the past seven years, will now leave,” he said.
“Senior medical staff agree that Northern Sydney Local Health District should run the public component of the hospital, but more than 200 senior medical staff passed a resolution recently seeking the continuation of private services for the community.”
AMA (NSW) is calling for the NSW Government to make a commitment to the people of the Northern Beaches that they will continue to have choices in how they receive their healthcare.
NSW Health Minister, The Hon. Ryan Park, MP, stated this past week the government was still working out how the takeover would be implemented.
"Our intention is to try and make sure that there are private services available," Mr Park said.
"Once we move to that contract-signing stage, we'll then do a clinical services plan, which [staff] will be heavily involved in."
In October the state government reached an in-principle agreement with Healthscope.
Under the $190 million agreement, yet to be finalised, the entire 494-bed hospital would return to public control by mid-2026.
See Week Two October 2025 (20-26) report:
Agreement reached to transition Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership + Here’s why a plan to turn private hospital giant Healthscope into a charity is stirring debate
