Bring the Newcastle Mater Hospital back into public hands

Newcastle local who had a loved one treated at the Mater speaks out, as nurses reveal pregnant staff put on cytotoxic wards

Newcastle local and NSW Socialists candidate for Wallsend, Kate Doherty, watched a loved one go through cancer treatment at Calvary Mater Hospital, one of thousands of Newcastle and Hunter families whose lives intersected with a hospital now confirmed by a parliamentary inquiry to have been contaminated with lethal Aspergillus mould, rain leaking through the ceiling, and maggots falling on patients.

"To know he was exposed to this mould along with so many local people, to know that the nurses who should have been focusing on patient care were struggling with air filters and humidity and personal sickness from the mould. This disaster reinforces my determination to fight privatisation everywhere," Doherty said.

NSW Socialists can also reveal new testimony from nurses at the Mater, speaking anonymously, who say chronic understaffing has meant pregnant staff have been rostered onto cytotoxic drug wards, a known health risk normally avoided for pregnant workers, with management telling staff there is "insufficient evidence" it would harm their baby.

One nurse said,

"Staff members have also been forced to work with cytotoxic patients while pregnant, as there are not enough staff… Traditionally, pregnant staff members have always been allocated non-cytotoxic patients to avoid potential exposure… Staff have even been told by management that there is ‘insufficient evidence’ that working with cytotoxic patients will harm their baby.”

Another nurse who cared for palliative care patients said:

"We were told the majority of the 'highest reading' of the mould was in the staff room and the single patient rooms. The single patient rooms were often reserved for patients with respiratory infections and the dying."

The inquiry has now recommended the Mater be returned to public hands — a call Health Minister Ryan Park has so far rebuffed, saying only "we are not there yet." The hospital was privatised by NSW Labor in 2005; the state government has known about the mould for years, and instead of penalising private operator Novacare, forgave the company $300 million in financial penalties.

Further quotes from from Kate Doherty:

“To Chris Minns and Ryan Park I say: our lives are worth more than your corporate deals. Your priorities are upside down. Take the money from the corporate tax handouts Labor have been giving, and use it to fix our hospitals. No more delays. Bring the Mater into public hands immediately.”

“Nothing can truly compensate the families who lost loved ones to this privatisation nightmare, but they deserve financial compensation and they deserve justice. Corporate executives and senior government staff who allowed this to happen should be held to account.”

“It's not just the Mater. Public healthcare is in crisis. Patients are waiting on the floor in Mount Druitt Hospital. There is constant ramping at John Hunter Hospital. Labor are failing patients and healthcare workers across the state.”

Please sign our petition to bring the Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle back into public hands:

NSW Socialists are campaigning for:

• The Mater be returned to public hands immediately
• Novacare executives face financial and criminal penalties
• Public-private partnerships in health be abolished
• Compulsory minimum nurse-to-patient ratios
• Pay rises for nurses above inflation — not the 3% on offer from 2027