The accreditation of training at the maternity unit at Canberra Hospital is at risk, with serious concerns about management and staffing emerging after a number of doctors left the hospital, and allegations of mismanagement and bullying.
After a review in September, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists gave Canberra Hospital a six-month accreditation for training of young doctors.
The accreditation is the shortest possible period awarded by the professional standards body to Australian and New Zealand hospitals.
One visiting assessor reportedly described Canberra as having “the worst maternity training unit in Australia” and Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson has questioned Chief Minister Katy Gallagher’s ability to deal with what he described as a “toxic culture”.
Mr Hanson said he was considering calling for a board of inquiry and demanded Ms Gallagher, who serves as ACT Health Minister, take immediate action.
ACT Health director-general Peggy Brown said she was not aware of any adverse outcomes for patients in the unit, despite the highly critical report and serious allegations raised against at least one senior doctor.
Staff have been called to a meeting to discuss the report and other organisational problems on Tuesday, and Dr Brown said Ms Gallagher had been briefed on the report’s contents.
Dr Brown said she would not release the college’s report and did not specifically outline its criticism of the unit.
A number of doctors have told The Canberra Times there is a toxic culture in the unit, highlighting rosters and supervision as major areas of concern.
One doctor said the new Centenary Hospital for Women and Children had too few beds and some new mothers were being moved from care earlier than they should. The doctor said bullying and unrealistic work periods were causing stress and mental health issues among doctors.
Another person with specific knowledge of the situation said serious cultural problems existed and they feared serious accident or staff suicide.
“They will need to man up to really make hard decisions,” the person said.
“I am concerned that worker fatigue could lead to errors in clinical judgement or adverse outcomes in home and family life including an accident or physical harm, intentional or non intentional.
“There’s extreme distress, fatigue and lack of coping. Everybody is still performing their job as best they can in very difficulty circumstance. This has been ongoing for months or even longer.”
Mr Hanson said three doctors had contacted him to express concern about dysfunctional leadership and patient safety.
“I am angry that this has all happened before on Katy Gallagher’s watch. It happened in 2010 where we saw 13 registrars resign, complaints of bullying and a damaging report. I am very disappointed we are back in the same situation four years later,” he said.
Mr Hanson called on Ms Gallagher to release the accreditation report.
“I think Katy Gallagher needs to question if she is up for the job. Is she too busy, is she distracted or is she not paying enough attention to the health system?” he said.
Dr Brown confirmed one staff member had been subject to a long-running evidence gathering process after trainee doctors made allegations of unprofessional behaviour.
She rejected suggestions a visiting expert would have described Canberra as the worst training unit in the country.
“The college will be back next year to check that we have met those recommendations,” she said.
“I would not accept that it is the worst hospital in Australia and I certainly do not accept that it is a disaster waiting to happen. The hospital provides a very high standard of obstetric care, which was specifically mentioned in the accreditation report.
“There are some cultural issues out there … and we are addressing those. They were brought to my attention very recently, in September, and we have responded very actively to those issues.”
A 2010 report into the maternity unit found serious shortcomings in staff management and training.
Dr Brown said significant progress had been made in implementing the report’s recommendations but conceded more work needed to be done.
Ms Gallagher has been contacted for comment.
Source: Canberra Times