A THIRD of women in labour have been turned away from a Blue Mountains hospital because of a lack of medical specialists at its newly "reopened" birthing service. The centre opened last month after closing temporarily due to staff shortages.
The Premier, Nathan Rees, admitted that as of September 1, 11 out of 33 women in labour had to be transferred from the Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital to Nepean hospital.
The Herald revealed yesterday that a 35-year-old woman gave birth in an ambulance on October 9 by the side of the Great Western Highway at Glenbrook.
She had been sent from Blue Mountains to Nepean because there was no anaesthetist available, even though her contractions were just a minute apart. A senior health official admitted yesterday that in hindsight it may have been the wrong decision.
The hospital has not confirmed whether any patients were sent away for emergency surgery during a 24-hour period when it did not have an available anaesthetist.
The hospital would not confirm exactly when it had alerted the Ambulance Service of NSW that it did not have anaesthetic cover on October 9, as is protocol, but said it issued "weekly updates on the status of hospital, in writing".
The hospital had deemed the woman to be "high risk" because she was 10 days overdue, was 35, and it was her third baby, according to the Sydney West Area Health Service Acting Western Cluster director, Kevin Hedge.
Mr Hedge said when the woman rang the hospital at 5.45am to say her contractions had started three hours earlier, she was told to come in for an assessment but that she would not be able to give birth there. Paramedics were also apparently unaware that Blue Mountains could not take women in labour.
The woman was examined by a midwife and obstetrician at Blue Mountains before being sent on to Nepean and gave birth about 30 minutes later.
The State Opposition yesterday accused the Government of lying to mothers. "Labor's failure to properly staff the Blue Mountains maternity unit when it was 'reopened' shows they are prepared to lie and put women's and babies' lives at risk," the Opposition health spokeswoman, Jillian Skinner, said.
"Nathan Rees should tell the public exactly how many mums have had to drive down the mountain to the west to have their babies," Mrs Skinner said.
Mr Hedge said the decision to transfer the woman was made because staff feared the hospital could not handle complications that may have arisen.