‘We’ve Failed in the Worst Way’: NSW Health Minister on Toddler’s Cardiac Arrest Death

sasirin pamai/Shutterstock

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has admitted the health system has failed the family of a young child who died at Northern Beaches Hospital last year.

Two-year-old Joe Massa suffered a cardiac arrest after waiting three hours for help in the emergency department. Staff eventually performed CPR, but it was too late—he had already suffered irreversible brain damage.

His parents, Elouise and Danny Massa, are urging the state government to review the public-private partnership of the hospital and calling on NSW Premier Chris Minns to hold a coronial inquest into his death.

Park acknowledged that the health system let Joe down for a number of reasons, mainly due to a triage error.

“We gave him a category three, he should have been a category two. We ignored the fact that his heart rate and other vitals were in a red zone, which normally means we escalate that. And finally, what we didn’t do was listen to the people who know their children best—and that is their Mum and their Dad,” he told 2GB.

“That is a catastrophic outcome that is a result of failure to do that. We let Joe down. We let Joe’s family down, and the system has erred in a way that has had catastrophic outcomes, and that will never be lost on me.”

Park described the incident as a preventable tragedy, adding that the government is working on improvements. However, he questioned the hospital’s operational model.

“This hospital is not a model of healthcare I would have preferred in NSW when it was first introduced many years ago,” he said.

“I do not believe that this is the very best model of healthcare that we can do in NSW, the privatisation of it I opposed at the time.”

However, he said the parents in that community do not want to hear that now, they want to hear about what they are going to try to do to fix it.

Hospital and Healthscope Respond

Northern Beaches Hospital is operated and maintained by Healthscope, which operates 41 hospitals across Australia and delivers services to public and private patients.

The hospital includes a 50-space emergency department and helipad, 488 beds, 14 operating theatres, and six surgical sites.

It is now owned by Canadian investment firm Brookfield Business Partners.

The NSW government provided $600 million towards the upgrade of the hospital under the former Liberal government.

A spokesperson for Healthscope told the Epoch Times that the Northern Beaches Hospital offers its deepest condolences to the Massa family for the loss of their son, Joe.

“Northern Beaches Hospital is absolutely committed to the care of our patients. The doctors and nurses in our emergency department are exceptionally dedicated, and devoted to providing high-quality care,” the spokesperson said.

Healthscope said the hospital accepts the findings of the Serious Adverse Event Review (SAER). This includes the finding that there was an underappreciation of the severity of Joe’s illness and a delay in recognising deterioration.

“We are currently implementing the recommendations of the SAER in full, including: reviewing systems to improve flagging of abnormal observations, improving triaging processes, implementing improvements to escalation of care processes,” Healthscope said.

“We will cooperate in full with any further review or investigations into this tragic incident.”

Review Finds Delayed Care May Have Cost Toddler’s Life

A SAER into the child’s death acknowledged the cardiac arrest event could potentially have been prevented. However, it found a delay/failure to recognise deterioration.

“The SAER team accepts that an earlier recognition of the deteriorating child may have provided an opportunity for early escalation and resuscitation with potential prevention of the cardiac arrest event,” the review seen by the Epoch Times said.

NSW Shadow Health Minister Kellie Sloane described the situation as “absolutely heartbreaking.”

“Our health system failed little Joe and his family. The least we can do is investigate this thoroughly to ensure no family goes through this again,” she said in a post to X.