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March 3, 2026 — 5:08pm
A lack of transparency by the Minns government and NSW Health over outbreaks of fatal fungal infections at a major Sydney hospital and animal infestations in other hospitals can only jeopardise public confidence in the system.
For months, the public was kept in the dark. And, somewhat astoundingly, authorities also spared Health Minister Ryan Park from being informed too.
Health professionals responded to the emergency that emerged around Christmas, chasing a likely cause of mould at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and preparing to move patients out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, NSW Health’s upper echelons drafted a media statement in case journalists asked questions. The document neglected to mention the deaths or the potential seriousness of the outbreak.
Park’s office was alerted to the cluster, but he was none the wiser for weeks – no one bothered to tell him until well after he returned from Christmas holidays.
The true situation emerged only last Thursday when the Herald revealed two transplant patients had died, and four others had contracted fungal infections, in a cluster linked to construction work at RPA last year. Then The Sun-Herald reported health workers had raised patient safety concerns over pigeon infestations at three NSW hospitals – Tamworth, Wollongong and RPA – including instances of bird lice infesting patients. At Tamworth, a staff member affected by bird lice required treatment in the emergency department.
Embarrassingly, Park had to admit at budget estimates on Monday that he first knew about the RPA cluster in early February.
Nevertheless, with the story out in the open, Park announced a snap review into a litany of maintenance issues at the state’s hospitals.
The RPA’s potentially deadly fungal infection may have been linked to an adjacent multimillion-dollar development. It raises daunting prospects for NSW Health as many of our 4400 hospital buildings are ageing, water-damaged and, in some cases, infested with vermin. Staff and patients at Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital last year learnt air-conditioning ducts were riddled with Aspergillus and needed to be replaced.
Admirable work by the state opposition uncovered the RPA cluster emergency.
Opposition health spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell put in a parliamentary document request that also revealed further mould issues at Cumberland, Wyong, Ryde and John Hunter hospitals. She said Park must explain why the public wasn’t informed about the RPA cluster months ago.
“The fact that the government is only now being transparent about multiple deaths and serious illnesses linked to a fungal outbreak at a major Sydney hospital is completely unacceptable,” Mitchell said. “Patients go to hospital to get better, not to be exposed to life-threatening infections.”
The past summer was a challenging one for NSW Health; Park and RPA were both busy responding to the Bondi tragedy. NSW Health rightly waited for expert advice on remedying the RPA situation, and responded accordingly.
But there are some things that the public has a right to know about, and this reaches that threshold. NSW Health should have taken responsibility for informing the public in consultation with the government. Instead, there is an abiding suspicion that public safety had been overlooked as the bureaucrats went about their business.
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