Health directors warned of 'significant patient risk' in Canberra fetal medicine unit

Officials said there had been "sustained staff shortages" in the unit and there were concerns they would be unable to provide a sustainable service during the first three months of the year.

"It is anticipated that a sustainable service will be unable to be provided in the first quarter of 2023, posing significant patient safety and reputational risk," executives said.

The concerns were outlined in documents provided to the territory's opposition under freedom of information. It was included in a request form to contract out services in the fetal medicine unit.

But an ACT government spokeswoman said the concerns did not eventuate as Canberra Health Services was able to establish strategies to cope with the shortages.

The fetal medicine unit at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children lost its training accreditation last year due to the staffing pressures.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has repeatedly said the unit was safe following the loss of the training accreditation, which means no training for sub-specialists in the unit can take place. It does not mean the unit has lost accreditation.

Opposition health spokeswoman Leanne Castley said the public needed to know what the clinical concerns were in the unit.

"The Health Minister should come clean and let Canberrans know what clinical concerns there were in the FMU between February and April, how staff exits and leave affected services and what the current situation is with regard to clinical services," she said.

"Overall, the FOI documents show that [Canberra Health Services] were scrambling to ensure that the unit could continue to function and their training could be reaccredited whilst the unit was held together on a wing and a prayer in the first quarter of 2023."

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The government spokeswoman said strategies were developed to ensure the unit could operate in a safe manner over the early part of the year.

"During this period of time, CHS established strategies to ensure triaging occurred daily, established a schedule for dedicated reporting time and had consultants in-clinic to provide support for sonographers," the spokeswoman said.

"To provide an extra level of assurance, any concerns could be escalated to the obstetric team on call.

"During this time, CHS continued its arrangement with a visiting medical officer from Sydney for in-person visits, and extended this arrangement to include phone support for fetal welfare concerns."

The spokeswoman said two senior sonographers had been recruited and recruitment continued for a maternal fetal medicine specialists. Two maternal fetal specialists have also been employed as locums.

"CHS is confident that the FMU is a safe service thanks to the hard work and ongoing efforts of the FMU team, often going above and beyond to continue serving the community," the spokeswoman said.

Training accreditation from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was suspended in the fetal medicine in August last year due to specialist shortfalls. A number of staff have since left the unit.

Canberra Health Services attempted to outsource roles and services in the unit in April but the move angered unions.

The service backed down from this move shortly after, with a spokeswoman saying it was able to find additional specialists to start in the unit.

The unit has also struggled with formally reporting on ultrasounds in a timely manner.

Obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital recently had its training accreditation reviewed by the college, which identified challenges within the unit.

Staff were fearful it could also lose its training accreditation but a formal report has not yet been provided.

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