North Shore Private Hospital - St Leonards, New South Wales

Dane

We recently had our first child delivered at North Shore Private.
The delivery side of things was great, we were put at ease and the doctors and nurses worked hard to ensure my wife's safety and comfort at a stressful time. Excellent doctors and nurses.

However that is where our great experience ended.

1. There is a worse patient to staff ratio at this hospital that any metro public hospital, meaning it sometimes took a long time for nurses to come to assist.

2. The quality of the accommodation: I would liken to a cheap hotel, questionable stains, poor cleaning standards (for instance visible mold in the shower, fluid marks on walls, dust all over anywhere above eye level.

3. Bed sheets were not changed over the weekend unless requested (not pleasant), due to funding cuts nurses are to perform this role on the weekends, which is problematic when they have 7 other patients to be looking after rather than changing sheets.

4. We were not informed of key information on admission (for example a night nursery being available so my wife could get a solid nights sleep after surgery. When informed of it on the 2nd night (at 2am) we were told we might get bumped from the nursery as 1st night babies have preference.

5. Despite a long notice period. We waited for hours (we chose to leave early as we were better equipped at home) to leave so staff could make the necessary checks to discharge us.

In short, look elsewhere.

SR S.

We have our baby delivered in North Shore Private Hospital. The team was fantastic with OB, Anaesthetic, midwife. A bit of hassle with the paediatrician, the experience was not good. Parental classes helped a lot. Excellent customer service. Spent 5 days without any hassle. The staff is really helpful and friendly. They can improve on their pantry however the food delivered to the room was good. Need more vegetarian options on the menu. Nursery facilities are good. Baby's primary supplies are provided without any limit. I was only disappointed that the delivery suite was not available during our stay. If you get a parking pass it's a lot cheaper for a stay of 5 or 7 days

djiang87

We had our baby delivered at NSP a few weeks ago. From delivery to the time we left the hospital, all the staff were amazing and I couldn't be more grateful for how they helped my wife with her recovery process and how they took care of my newborn.

My only bits of feedback had to do with bathroom and the food. Considering how we paid an additional $500 for a private suite, you would expect the bathroom to be clean however it wasn't. Also the food is kinda bland however I guess they can't season the food correctly given the environment we are in

Dee

Our experience started off well in the Day Surgery Unit, where the staff were polite and professional. But once we were transferred to the Short Stay Unit, everything changed and what followed was one of the most shocking and degrading experiences we’ve ever had in a healthcare setting.

We were racially profiled and mistreated by Donna, Ingrid, and a blonde woman who appeared to be acting as the Nurse Unit Manager. From the moment we arrived, the tone shifted. Donna snapped and snarled at my son as if he was a problem rather than a patient. She was visibly irritated, short, and aggressive in her responses. When we informed her we don’t eat ham she scowled at us in disgust.

At the time, my son was coming out of anaesthesia. While it wasn’t a long procedure, he had still been put to sleep and was in a vulnerable post-operative state, groggy, disoriented and in need of reassurance. Instead, he was met with hostility and rudeness.

We asked for a change of nurse due to Donna’s behaviour via their patient feedback email. The feedback staff were very kind and progressed our concerns. However, in comes Ingrid who asked us to leave without notifying or consulting our surgeon. When we questioned if this had anything to do with raising the alarm about Donna's negligent behaviour Ingrid became verbally aggressive and said "I don't know anything about that you can sit here if you want to". We were deliberately misled and told our surgeon was nowhere near ready to see us post-op. We later discovered this was completely false - our surgeon arrived within 15 minutes of contacting the patient feedback email for a second time.

This is not a public hospital - it is a private facility where we incurred out-of-pocket expenses. We expected professionalism, dignity and basic respect. Instead, we were judged, mistreated, and made to feel like we did not belong.

We left feeling deeply hurt, confused, and scared. That this kind of abhorrent behaviour is still occurring in hospitals is both shocking and unacceptable. There was no care. No accountability. Just arrogance, discrimination and a complete lack of humanity.

We have reported this incident to the HCCC and the Ministry of Health.

Go somewhere where respect is non-negotiable. If you are from a diverse background or do not fit their idea of who “belongs,” avoid this place. No one should be treated the way we were. Ever.

Emma

Couldnt be happier with the level of service and care from all staff at North Shore Private. I had spinal surgery and had a great recovery. The nurses were very friendly, professional, calm and i felt well cared for. The surgeon and anaesthetist also did a check in visit. The easiest surgery & recovery ive had compared to past surgeries and hospitals.

Grace C.

I recently had first baby delivered, and my baby had some breathing issues, so baby had to stay in the Special Care Nursery and was later transferred to the NICU at RNH for two days. Now she is very healthy 🙂 I’m truly grateful to all the doctors, nurses, and staff involved, I felt cared for during our 7 night stay in the parenting suite.
A special thanks to Dr. Kent Lin, who supported us throughout our journey from IVF to birth. Highly recommended!

Philip G.

My wife had brain surgery and I can't speak highly enough they were all fantastic. From the cleaners who were polite and friendly when cleaning her room, wardsman to nursing and physiotherapy staff. My wife was well looked after. Thank you North Shore Private Hospital

Shari K.

My highly anxious (and neurodivergent) teen went in for surgery, which went well thanks to our amazing surgeon, anaesthetist and surgeon’s nurse. The communication needs a serious overhaul though. We were advised by our caring surgery nurse that one of us would be allowed into the recovery room (Short Stay) to be with our child due to their level of anxiety. We asked the Short Stay receptionist if our child had arrived yet after surgery and she said she didn’t know and in any event we “wouldn’t be allowed to see them because they are 17”. Um, why She then added “They’ve probably gone straight up to the ward anyway.” Dismissive and didn’t want to explain anything. Eventually we found our lovely surgery nurse who advised that this would not be the case and a nurse would come and get us shortly to go in to the recovery area to be with our kid.
Perhaps staff need some communication training, as well as training around autistic individuals?