Current budget restrictions on the Women's & Children's Hospital are impacting the care of seriously ill babies & children. 

On Thursday 4th March 2021, 10 month old Willow Bone was scheduled for surgery to correct life threatening condition. Little Willow, who is only 7kgs, fasted from 3:30am, permission forms were signed, she was gowned and ready to go to surgery. At 3pm, after almost 12 hours of fasting Willow's parents were informed that the surgery was cancelled due to under staffing. Everything was ready to go for the surgery including the ICU bed for Willow post op, however, there were not enough staff to care for Willow in that bed and therefore the surgery was cancelled. 

The Bone family have now been informed that starting Tuesday 9th March, Willow will be on the emergency waiting list. This means there is no guarantees when the surgery will go ahead.

Little Willow will be required to fast from 3am on Tuesday but if the surgery doesn't go ahead, she will be then required to fast from 3am on Wednesday and so on until they can provide her care in ICU. 

Interim Chief Operating Officer of the hospital, Jane Jennings is hiding behind the fact that the "staffing levels are within the enterprise agreement" and that due to how busy the ICU unit was, they had to "prioritise care". If this enterprise agreement means that children requiring life saving surgery are "bumped" and that seriously ill children are "prioritised" then the agreement needs to be changed. 

SA Premier Steven Marshall is hiding behind the fact that he has increased the funding to the hospital since coming into government. If this is still the situation, your funding increase is not enough.

Please sign this petition to get the SA Government to act NOW to change the enterprise agreement and increase staff funding. This may not assist little Willow but this change needs to happen before a life is lost.