Plans announced for closure of Bunbury private maternity services
14 May 2024
Update 25 June 2024
St John of God Bunbury Hospital’s maternity services have now closed. For information on private maternity services in Perth please see:
- St John of God Murdoch Hospital private maternity services
- St John of God Subiaco Hospital private maternity services
For information about public maternity services in the South West of WA please visit the Healthy WA website.
Further information on the closure is available below:
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The difficult decision has been made due to ongoing challenges in delivering private obstetric care in the regional community.
The service has experienced a chronic shortage of employed midwives and decreasing availability of obstetricians, GP-obstetricians and paediatricians locally, and an overall decline in demand for private maternity services at the hospital.
St John of God Bunbury Hospital Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Williams said a comprehensive review of the service was undertaken last year and discussions with local obstetricians, GP obstetricians, and midwives have been ongoing.
“Whilst we have implemented a number of changes over the last 12 months to ensure we continue to maintain safe and high quality care maternity services, unfortunately, through the review we have been unable to identify any sustainable models of care that would enable the service to continue for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“Our priority is to now support the safe transition of maternity care for women who were planning to birth at our hospital, and we are working closely with our colleagues at Bunbury Regional Hospital to support any increased demand for their services.”
We have consulted Bunbury Regional Hospital on the scheduled closure and we will work closely with them to support throughout the transition period.
A range of personalised information and support is being provided to women who were booked to have their babies at St John of God Bunbury Hospital. This includes transitioning their care to public hospitals, with the option to be treated as private patients and cared for by their chosen obstetrician, or transferred to one of our private hospitals in Perth.
“We are extremely proud of the maternity services we have offered at Bunbury for more than 84 years, and we know this announcement will disappoint our patients, their families, the wider community, and impact our caregivers and doctors,” Jeffrey said.
“It has been a very difficult decision to make given the long history but patient safety is our number one priority in considering the future of clinical services and ultimately this has been the deciding factor.”
Over the next six weeks, all of St John of God Bunbury Hospital doctors, midwives and nurses will be supported through this change. Where possible, impacted caregivers will be offered re-deployment within St John of God Bunbury Hospital or at our Perth-based maternity services.
During this period, St John of God Bunbury Hospital will maintain its existing arrangements to manage some of the current challenges, including bypass arrangements with Bunbury Regional Hospital for expectant women who go into spontaneous labour overnight.
St John of God Health Care Chief Operating Officer Ben Edwards said the organisation remained committed to the south west region.
“We want to reassure the south west community that St John of God Bunbury Hospital is not closing and all other services continue as normal,” he said.
“We are working to reposition Bunbury for the future and we are in active discussions about what this will look like going forward.”
The service has experienced a chronic shortage of employed midwives and decreasing availability of obstetricians, GP-obstetricians and paediatricians locally, and an overall decline in demand for private maternity services at the hospital.
We undertook a review of the service in 2023 and this identified a number of challenges in providing a sustainable service.
Whilst we have implemented a number of changes over the last 12 months to ensure we continue to maintain safe and high quality care maternity services, unfortunately, through the review we have been unable to identify any sustainable models of care that would enable the service to continue for the foreseeable future.
Our priority is to now support the safe transition of maternity care for women who were planning to birth at our hospital, and we are working closely with our colleagues at Bunbury Regional Hospital to support any increased demand for their services.
If your admission date is on or before 24 June 2024 you will have your baby at St John of God Bunbury Hospital as planned.
If your admission date is on or after 6am on Tuesday 25 June 2024, or if your pregnancy goes beyond the 25 June, you should discuss your options for care with your obstetrician to determine what best suits your needs.
We will continue to do what we can to support you in your transition of care and these above options have also been communicated to your Obstetrician or GP Obstetrician, so that together you can discuss the best options for you and your family.
If you need maternity care after that date please call your new hospital, which in many instances we anticipate to be Bunbury Regional Hospital on 08 9722 1348.
If you have already paid your excess to St John of God Bunbury Hospital, and you will now deliver your baby at Bunbury Regional Hospital as a public patient we will refund you.