Why Local Hospital Care Matters More Than We Realise

For many Northern Beaches families, interactions with Northern Beaches Hospital are often straightforward and that’s exactly the point.

A visit to emergency when a child has a fever that won’t go down.
Reassurance when something feels wrong.
Treatment close enough to home that family can visit, support and stay connected.

It’s only when those moments are imagined not being local that their importance becomes clear.

If a child breaks an arm, or an elderly parent experiences chest pain, the difference between receiving care close to home and travelling across Spit Bridge in peak hour matters. Time matters. Familiar surroundings matter. Being near support networks matters.

That’s why access to a hospital that genuinely services the Northern Beaches community is so important.

Public Doesn’t Automatically Mean the Same Services

There is a growing assumption that transitioning Northern Beaches Hospital to a fully public hospital automatically means the same services will continue, just under a different structure. How services will operate

That assumption is incorrect.

Private services currently play a role in helping keep wait times shorter and specialist care available locally. Removing that capacity doesn’t reduce demand; it redistributes it.

If around 20,000 private surgeries a year stop happening locally at Northern Beaches Hospital, those patients don’t disappear. They join public waiting lists, alongside local families.

Why Specialist Care Close to Home Matters

When patients receive cancer treatment or complex care close to home, it isn’t by chance.

It’s because specialist teams, operating theatres and coordinated services are already in place at the Northern Beaches Hospital.

That level of access is not guaranteed to continue without careful planning.

When clinicians don’t know whether they will be able to continue operating at Northern Beaches Hospital in the future, they are forced to make difficult decisions.

Continuity of care depends on certainty. Without it, services begin to move.

Beds Don’t Treat Patients. People Do

Hospitals are often discussed in terms of buildings and bed numbers. But beds don’t treat patients.

Doctors, nurses, operating theatres, specialist teams and equipment are what deliver care.

These are also the elements most vulnerable during periods of uncertainty and transition.

This Isn’t an Either-Or Conversation

It is possible to support public healthcare while also protecting private services.

These two priorities are not in conflict.

What is difficult to reverse, however, is the loss of services once they move elsewhere.

If care shifts away from the Northern Beaches, families feel the impact first: longer waits, longer travel times, and more difficult recoveries, particularly for children and older residents.

What This Is Really About

This conversation is not about politics or ownership.

It is about whether Northern Beaches Hospital can continue delivering the level of care the community relies on close to home, when it matters most.

Northern Beaches residents deserve certainty, continuity and access to care that reflects the needs of the community.

Northern Beaches Hospital is under threat. Let’s protect it.