The boss of Canberra Hospital says many tears have been shed in her office from people affected by bullying and harassment in the territory's public health system.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Her comments came in response to questions during ACT Estimates on Thursday about the impact of high levels of bullying in the system.
Health executives were asked how many people had lost their jobs or been disciplined for bullying since an independent review into ACT health's culture last year, but they did not provide a number.
Canberra Health Services CEO Bernadette McDonald said she had made it a priority to meet and listen.
"I've had a lot of tissues used in my office by staff members that have had really poor experiences and I acknowledge that and I do apologise for what's happened in the past," she said.
"We are actively working with a lot of individuals across the organisation who have had ongoing issues to solve their problems and work with them and build their confidence back up."
Ms McDonald said an employee advocate was recently appointed and would start on July 1.
They will report directly to Ms McDonald and be able to be contacted confidentially by staff members.
"Since I started last year I've had lots and lots of conversations with staff and encouraged my executive to have those conversations to clearly understand what the issues are and what we can do about that," she said.
"We've started restorative processes in areas where we've identified clusters of behaviour issues and we're working closely with specific areas across the organisation."