‘Joe’s law’: Hospital partnerships banned after child’s death at Northern Beaches Hospital

However, the project drew widespread community anger and concern that Healthscope, which paid $2.14 billion to build and run the hospital until 2038, would put profits before patient care.

After a shambolic opening in 2018 marred by industrial disputes and equipment shortages, Skinner’s successor, Brad Hazzard, shelved plans to build and run five regional hospitals privately. A parliamentary inquiry later recommended an end to public-private hospital partnerships altogether.

The investigation into Joe Massa’s death found it stemmed from serious systemic and individual failures to identify his rapidly deteriorating condition.

In a serious adverse event review after Joe’s death in September, medical staff not involved in his treatment found his life-threatening condition may have been identified and treated earlier if he had been appropriately triaged upon arrival at the emergency department, and if the grave concerns of his parents and staff had been “actioned in a timely manner”.

The review recommended urgent changes to the hospital’s electronic medical record system and triage processes after finding the hospital failed to respond urgently to a heart rate considered in the “red zone”, and failed to respond to serious concerns from clinicians and the boy’s parents.