Senior obstetricians are concerned the only private obstetric unit in Cairns is on the brink of collapse, with major knock-on effects for doctors and public services in the region.

Professor Gino Pecoraro, president of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (NASOG) says Far North Queensland doctors had expressed concerns about the viability of the unit.

“The word on the street from the doctors in town is that they think it’s more likely than not to go under,” Professor Pecoraro told 6minutes.

“The follow-on effect that would happen … is it’d be Gladstone all over again.”