Page 3342 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 17 August 2010
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and forced in this Assembly to instigate the reviews that we had. Let us be very clear that that is what occurred.
There is no doubt that the other review, which was commissioned, under the public disclosure act, will not see the light of day. I know that, although the minister plays the innocent party, it is well understood in this town that the minister and some senior bureaucrats really do not want that report to see the light of day. If you think that this clinical review is bad, just imagine how bad that review will be.
Let me turn to some of the quotes from the clinical review. The minister said that it is a great review. Let us see what it actually said:
The review panel identified an apparent systemic and long-standing reticence by management to address disruptive or inappropriate behaviour …
… medical and midwifery staff reported they had discussed their concerns about disruptive behaviour within the unit with their line manager and with various executive team members; however they did not believe these issues were addressed.
And this is where she said that they had not had any complaints made:
Management team members … acknowledged that they had received complaints about inappropriate behaviour by a senior clinician over a number of years.
But in her speech Katy Gallagher said no complaints had been made. The report said:
The clinical governance at the Canberra Hospital maternity unit appears to be inadequate …
There is evidence of systemic reticence to address staff performance issues …
There was an apparent lack of cohesion amongst the executive team at the Canberra Hospital.
There appears to be considerable confusion over the role and delineation of some senior management positions …
It appears that the chain of command often fails …
There is a lack of understanding by staff at all levels within the Canberra Hospital as to how a complaint should be made and to whom it should be addressed.
And on and on. It is an absolutely shocking report from a shocking minister.
The denials that no complaints had been made were false. They were a lie. The attacks the minister made on the obstetricians were completely unfounded. There are very serious problems within TCH obstetrics, and that has been found in this report. The minister was either unaware of those reports and was negligent or she was aware of them and she was misleading the community and withholding that information, protecting the bullies. I will let her tell us which that is.
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