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Doctors have criticised the Royal Children’s Hospital decision to abruptly cancel an expert panel on children and war, saying the hospital is silencing discussion of children’s suffering in Gaza.
The panel of five leading medical practitioners and refugee advocates – which included an Australian recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize – was scheduled to speak at one of the hospital’s regular grand round sessions on Wednesday, before RCH chief executive Dr Peter Steer suddenly cancelled the event late last week, citing staff safety.
Palestinian children haul jerry cans of water collected from a distribution point in Gaza City.Credit: AP
In an email to the panellists, Steer wrote: “This decision is not about the importance of the topic itself, but about the risk that the discussion could shift away from a focus on child health and become challenging in ways that may be unhelpful for our staff and their wellbeing.”
The listed speakers on the panel were Associate Professor Tilman Ruff, co-founder of the Nobel-awarded International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons; Médecins Sans Frontières paediatric nurse Alison Moebus, who has recently worked in Gaza; Asia-Pacific refugee leader Najeeba Wazefadost; RCH head of immigrant health Associate Professor Georgia Paxton; and Dr Sue Wareham, president of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.
The decision by hospital administrators to cancel the panel, without giving speakers a chance to address concerns, was an insult to the panel’s professionalism, Ruff said.
“At every level, I think it’s insulting to the senior staff, I think it’s meddlesome and inappropriate. What does it say? That the topic of children and war can’t be discussed in one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals? That’s completely unacceptable.”
Associate Professor Tilman Ruff with his Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
Grand rounds are a weekly opportunity for medical staff and students to hear the latest scientific and educational evidence on a range of subjects. Attendance is voluntary.
Ruff said the cancellation of a grand round was unprecedented in his experience. He said the panellists had carefully planned the session and arranged for a psychiatrist to attend in case the subject distressed any attendees.
“For that process to be interfered with by hospital administration is, in my view, quite improper,” he said.
Wareham said the event’s cancellation was unacceptable for an institution dedicated to the health and welfare of children, and could only be interpreted as a decision to suppress discussion about the conflict in Gaza.
Dr Sue Wareham, the national president of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.Credit: Rohan Thomson
“Reading between the lines, you could interpret it as people would really find this too uncomfortable to hear about, and for a kids’ hospital to say the trauma that’s happening to children is too uncomfortable for us to hear about, I mean, that’s just so astonishing and deplorable,” Wareham said.
Wareham said the panellists had intended to discuss the harms that war exacts upon children globally and generally, and were mindful not to limit the forum to any one conflict.
“We would also, of course, address other situations where children are suffering terribly from wars, in the Sudan, in Ukraine, in Myanmar and other places,” she said. “Children there suffer equally.
“Clearly, the cancellation of this event was in relation to Gaza and the children in Gaza. And yes, that would have been addressed as part of the discussion because it’s really impossible to talk about children and war right now and ignore the children in Gaza. And for goodness’ sake, why should we ignore the children of Gaza?”
The Royal Children’s Hospital says it cancelled the event due to concerns about staff safety.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Aid agency Save the Children reported last week that at least 20,000 children – about 2 per cent of Gaza’s child population – have been killed since Israel invaded Gaza in October 2023, in response to terrorist organisation Hamas’ killing of about 1200 Israelis. A similar number of children have been left permanently disabled, the United Nations committee on the rights of persons with disabilities said in August.
A spokesperson for the Royal Children’s Hospital said it was essential that all staff worked in an environment where they felt safe.
“Our commitment to staff safety would not have been met if this session had proceeded as planned,” the spokesperson said.
“This decision does not alter the hospital’s unwavering commitment to providing healthcare for children impacted by war, crisis and violence. That work remains central to our mission.”
The Medical Association for Prevention of War wrote to Steer the day after the event was cancelled, urging him to reconsider.
“The Royal Children’s Hospital – with its vision of ‘a world where all kids thrive’ – should never agree to avoid discussion of some children’s health,” the letter said. “Regardless of anyone’s position on Israel’s war on Gaza, health professionals should never refuse to acknowledge or discuss that war’s profound effect on children.”
Grand rounds are a weekly seminar series, jointly sponsored by the University of Melbourne, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the RCH, aimed at child and adolescent health researchers, academics and clinicians.
An online petition urging the hospital to reinstate the session had been signed by more than 300 healthcare workers by Saturday afternoon.
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