Calvary Hospital staff were subjected to inappropriate behaviour toward them by senior ACT Health executives, a review of ACT public health services has found.
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The interim report of the independent review, released on Friday, found relations between staff at the Bruce hospital and ACT Health staff were "fraught and strained".
"It is clear that the relationship between Calvary Public Hospital, the Health Directorate and Canberra Health Services has deteriorated over the past few years," the report said.
The report identified a lack of coordination between Canberra's two major hospitals in terms of planning and providing clinical services.
The lack of planning had created a "high level of distrust, confusion and angst" among staff, with little or no consultation provided.
While the interim report said Calvary staff were subjected to inappropriate behaviour from senior ACT Health staff, it was also found Calvary staff acted inappropriately towards those in ACT Health.
One submission to the review, chaired by former Queensland Health director-general Mick Reid, said the breakdown of the relationship between Calvary and ACT Health had made work conditions increasingly difficult for staff.
"There is a distinct lack of strategic planning or direction due to the inability of [redacted] to effectively plan and poor relationships between the two services," the submission said.
"This makes it very hard for individual departments to plan, grow, innovate and attract staff and challenge staff in an effort to keep them engaged."
The lack of communication between the two parties was creating an "us and them" mentality at Calvary Hospital, according to the report.
One health worker said in their submission Calvary staff were not offered the same level of training opportunities as their Canberra Hospital counterparts.
"Attracting and retaining staff is very difficult," the submission said.
The report said greater mobility of staff between the two hospitals would be a key measure to improve staff retention in the ACT.
Among the 20 recommendations made in the interim report was that a summit should be held between senior staff and administrators at Calvary and Canberra Health Services to improve clinical services and collaboration between the two organisations.
The review, announced by the ACT government after numerous scandals and reports of bullying in the health system received almost 400 submissions and more than 1900 responses to a staff-wide survey.
It found more than 60 per cent of staff had witnessed bullying at work, with 35 per cent being subjected to it.
Staff said there was significant scepticism the review would not lead to change, with previous reviews being forgotten.
Calvary ACT regional chief executive Barbara Reid said the hospital would work closely with ACT Health to implement the review's recommendations.
"As part of our ongoing commitment to staff we are making enhancements to our incident reporting system so that staff can directly select the manager or executive officer to whom incident notifications are made," Ms Reid said.
"Our staff have the right to work in a respectful environment where they are valued and free from harm."
