NSW ‘will struggle to attract heart surgeons due to children’s hospital indecision’ – The Sydney Morning Herald

Sydney children's hospitals will struggle to keep and attract the best cardiac surgeons following the protracted feud over cardiac services between Randwick and Westmead hospitals.

One of Westmead's top paediatric cardiac surgeons, David Winlaw, has resigned for a position in the US following the state government's controversial decision to run heart services in both Westmead and Randwick.

The government has decided to maintain cardiac services across the Randwick and Westmead children's hospitals, a decision that Westmead does not support.Credit:Isabella Porras

"His loss will be a big loss to the children of NSW," the Sydney Children's Hospital Network's head of cardiology Phil Roberts said. "Cardiac surgeons are hard to find, good cardiac surgeons are harder to find."

Professor Winlaw's departure meant the ability to treat children needing heart transplants in Sydney would be set back by years, Dr Roberts said.

Professor David Winlaw is leaving Westmead for a job at a leading US children's hospital.

The Deputy Secretary of NSW Health Nigel Lyons said the ongoing tension between doctors at Randwick and Westmead, and delays in the decision over whether heart surgery should be centralised at Westmead or continue at both sites, would make finding a replacement for Professor Winlaw difficult.

"If there's a unit where they feel like they're under threat from colleagues in the same city or there's not a sense of being part of something then that's a challenge to recruit people into," Dr Lyons said.

But he said the decision was final and urged doctors to stop airing their grievances publicly.

Staff at Randwick said their ability to provide tertiary services, including paediatric intensive care, would be damaged if cardiac surgery was not performed at both hospitals. The network's cardiologists, and staff at Westmead, believe the state's children would be best served with cardiac surgery on one site only.

In January, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced child heart surgery and cardiology services would be delivered at both hospitals after receiving a comprehensive review of paediatric services conducted by Professor Richard Henry.

He also announced up to $10 million in funding for equipment and infrastructure to help deliver paediatric cardiac services at both sites.

In a letter sent to Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Mr Hazzard seen by The Sydney Morning Herald, Westmead staff said they felt they had been muzzled from prosecuting their case in the media for heart surgery at one site.

Staff at the western Sydney hospital said the report was biased, and the government's decision was political, and not based on expert evidence or the best interest of children and taxpayers.

"The experts in this field are the cardiac surgeons and the cardiologists," Dr Roberts said, adding those experts agreed that cardiac surgery and interventions including keyhole surgery should only be performed at Westmead.

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"Northern Ireland are now sending all their cardiac patients to Dublin [Ireland's capital] to be operated on," he said.

"If they can achieve it, then the squabbling doctors in NSW really need to put the patients first and do what's best for the patient."

Dr Lyons said the decision had been made and everyone needed to get on board.

"If people aren't being constructive and aren't being positive about what we're seeking to achieve, how do we ensure we bring them along?" he said. "If they're not prepared to come along, they can't be a part of it."

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The Henry Review was the third review to examine issues within the network since September 2018.

The Alexander Review, published in July last year, said the network's board needed to be overhauled but did not address cardiac services.

Professor Henry said there was a lack of trust between staff at both hospitals and the board, and that issue was critical to mending the hospital network.

"Be in no doubt that people at both sites have a deep commitment to the best interests of children, young people and families."

Dr Roberts said it was partly the "exhausting" process of "excessive reviews" that led to Professor Winlaw accepting an offer with Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Ohio.

Dr Lyons said that, if part of the reason for Professor Winlaw's departure was due to the indecision over services, NSW Health needed to make sure things were worked out more quickly in the future.

Despite the ongoing debate over heart surgery, Professor Henry said he did not think the cultural differences between the two hospitals were irreconcilable.

"It's hard to see that with some of the yelling and screaming that's been going on in the last year or two, but they do share common values and a common mission," he said.

Rachel Clun is a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald.

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NSW 'will struggle to attract heart surgeons due to children's hospital indecision' - The Sydney Morning Herald