Ms Feely and Health Minister Simon Corbell said an independent external review of the culture and management of the training programs was under way at the hospital, with interim recommendations due to be delivered within a month.

Consultancy firm KPMG will lead the review, which comes after years of allegations of bullying, mismanagement and an ongoing toxic culture. Trainee doctors and senior medical officers will be given the opportunity to speak confidentially, a move Ms Feely said would strengthen the review process and lead to better recommendations for improvement.

Mr Corbell conceded poor outcomes existed in the training programs. A 2014 audit by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists resulted in the hospital receiving the minimum six-months accreditation for maternity unit training.

It raised concerns about bullying, staffing rosters and workforce levels and said patient and staff care could have been put at risk. Training programs inside the maternity unit would be stopped if a further adverse audit finding was received.

A new clinical director began work in the maternity unit in April and industrial action is ongoing for a small group of senior medical officers.

A review of service delivery and clinical outcomes conducted in August 2010 found unsustainable workloads and management failure in dealing with inappropriate behaviour.

The review and an inquiry into bullying and harassment were commissioned after nine doctors resigned from the maternity unit in 13 months. It identified a systemic disruptive and inappropriate behaviour.

Speaking outside a budget estimates hearing, Ms Feely warned no tolerance would be given for bullying allegations under her leadership.

Recommendations for improvements to culture and better implementation of training policies will be given to Ms Feely. She said the timeline could be extended if required after the initial immediate review was concluded.

Mr Corbell said the review would be effective and its findings could be publicly released after consideration of confidentiality.

Staff and relevant professional training colleges and associations will also be asked to part in the latest review process.

"I don't want to see some of the problems reoccurring that we have seen in some parts of the hospital, such as maternity services, nor do I want to see the sorts of culture that we have seen reported [by the] media," Mr Corbell said.

Ms Feely, who took over from former director-general Peggy Brown this month, has also been asked to place priority on delivering a reduction in elective surgery waiting times.

Opposition leader and health spokesman Jeremy Hanson used the hearing to keep pressure on the government over bed numbers and floor space at the new University of Canberra public hospital.

Mr Hanson said the government had broken its promise to deliver 200 beds at the facility and that a functional brief prepared for ACT Health in September also showed a 23 per cent reduction in size.

The hospital is expected to have 140 beds, and a floorspace of 20,747 square metres, down from 26,750 square metres forecast in a government report cited by Ms Gallagher in 2012.

"The planned size of the hospital in the original documents provided in 2012 has been cut by about 25 per cent... so what we've seen is that it confirms not only have the beds been cut but also the size of the hospital has been cut in equivalent proportions as well," Mr Hanson said.

Midwifery Federation ACT branch secretary Jenny Miragaya said workloads across Canberra's hospitals were "tremendous" and contributed to cultural problems.

"When you've got a very heavy workload and quick turn over of patients, it does put additional stress on hospital staff. Sometimes that is reflected in how people interact with each other," she said.