Let’s be real. According to insiders who know, the practical effect of Ramsay Health Care’s new matern­ity policy is to push out local ­senior doctors who have been working in this community for ­decades. 

One of the cornerstones of a good public hospital is its relationship with visiting doctors like Dr Kimberley Sleeman and Dr Wendy Hughes. This new policy has the potential to make it extraordinarily difficult for these doctors to continue providing care to public pat­ients.