In the wake of proposed cuts, staff members say they fear that maternity services may be gradually shut down altogether at Dandenong Hospital.
Speaking to Star Journal, a staff member has slammed Monash Health’s statement that the proposed relocation of high-risk pregnancies and specialist neo-natal nurses to Casey Hospital and Monash Medical Centre “enhances patient outcomes”
“I’m not sure how patient care will be improved when those highly skilled nurses, trained in the area, are redeployed and replaced by staff who are not as experienced in that clinical field.
“It’s very stressful. This has been brought up in consultation meetings with Monash Health. The staff are concerned and distressed with the notion of this proposal.”
The staff say they have heightened concerns on the ground due to Monash Health’s proposal to downgrade Dandenong Hospital’s maternity capability from level three to two, which means the hospital won’t look after complex pregnancies and newborns.
Neonatal specialist nurses provide specialised medical care to newborns especially those born prematurely or with health problems. They are trained to resuscitate newborns, provide emergency interventions, monitor vital signs, provide emotional and educational support to the family of the newborn amongst other routine works.
Their redeployment to Casey Hospital or Monash Medical Centre leaves extra strain on midwives to manage the nursery, potentially risking their license should anything go wrong, staff say.
Concerns are also being raised on the impact on vulnerable mothers, newborns and their families.
“I think it will be a challenge and it’s the staff’s preference to have the special care nurses remain so they are able to provide that advanced skill in the times that are needed,” a staff member said.
“The community is vulnerable in they sense they utilise public transport to access pregnancy care appointments, and coming to hospital for labour and births.
“They are culturally and linguistically diverse, many non-English speaking – that contributes to the vulnerability we are concerned about.
“It will be challenging for their family if neonatal care is required at another hospital. They would have to travel at distance to receive that care.
“They are able to receive care currently at Dandenong and that wouldn’t necessarily be the case in clinical conditions if they need to transfer to another hospital.
“That mother infant bond is very important right from the time of birth and because infant care may not be delivered at Dandenong under that proposal, that bond separated from a very early time is very challenging.”
A Monash Health spokesperson has responded saying maternity and newborn services are “under-utilised” in Dandenong Hospital hence the relocation to Casey Hospital “to meet growing demand.”
“This will allow more families to access the right care, closer to home, while Dandenong Hospital will continue to provide excellent maternity and newborn services for the local community.
“The reconfiguration will strengthen midwife-led bedside care, backed by our medical teams, as the cornerstone of maternity and newborn services at Dandenong Hospital.
“We are also expanding our culturally safe model of care, with additional translation support and culturally appropriate services to better meet the needs of our diverse community in Dandenong.”
According to staff members, however, midwives who would rather stay at Dandenong Hospital are seeking a “supportive work environment” elsewhere, according to staff members.
“The general consensus among staff is that the overall intention of the Monash Health service is to close the maternity services (at Dandenong) – reducing part of the services, to make it smaller and smaller, until it’s no longer a feasible maternity service.”
The staff referenced the similar move back in 2022, reported by Star Journal, to relocate maternity, special care nursery and paediatric services to Casey Hospital in Berwick and Monash Childrens Hospital and Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, according to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
“It’s important the community are aware of the intention of Monash Health and it should remain in the public eyes,” the staffer said.
“This proposal has continued the longest out of the three attempts. The other two were shut down reasonably quickly, but this has been going on since May.
“So I honestly can’t be sure if it’ll be successful, I hope community support will prevent that from happening.”
Neonatal nurses provide specialised medical care to newborns especially those born prematurely or with health problems, trained to resuscitate newborns, provide emergency interventions, monitor vital signs, provide emotional and educational support the family of the newborn amongst other routine works.
