More than 100 staff members within Canberra's health system were formally reported for bullying or harassment incidents during the past year.
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Documents obtained by The Canberra Times have revealed 110 incidents of bullying or harassment were investigated in either ACT Health or Canberra Health Services during the 2019-20 financial year.
The number of formal bullying complaints made in Canberra's hospitals has risen sharply in the past year, increasing by nearly 60 per cent from the 69 incidents reported in 2018-19.
Of the bullying incidents reported, six of them came from within ACT Health, the directorate in charge of health policy decision, while the remaining 104 were from Canberra Health Services, which is in charge of the day-to-day running of Canberra Hospital and other public health facilities.
Out of the 110 bullying and harassment complaints reported, five were the subject of a formal misconduct investigation.
The internal documents revealed in one of those cases, regarding an ACT Health employee, substantiated findings of misconduct, along with bullying and harassment, were made.
An ACT Health spokeswoman declined to comment on the circumstances behind the misconduct findings.
The documents also showed three of those cases subjected to a formal investigation remained in progress as of June 30.
Multiple complaints about bullying and harassment were reported to Canberra Health Services' respect, equity and diversity officers, with 22 reports made during the financial year.
The officers were implemented recently as staff members who were assigned to help resolve issues in the workplace.
A further 55 complaints of bullying were received by human resources staff in both directorates.
The number of bullying and and harassment complaints has skyrocketed for the second financial year in a row.
The 110 complaints received in 2019-20 and 69 the year before showed a dramatic spike from just 10 in 2017-18 and 22 during 2016-17.
The large increase in the number of bullying and harassment complaints within the ACT's health system comes after it was revealed the Culture Review Oversight Group, the committee tasked with overseeing changes to workplace culture, had not met since June this year.
That was despite a commitment made for the committee to meet at least once every two months.
It was also recently revealed ACT Health's own risk register stated there was a high chance the recommendations of a review into workplace culture within the health system would not be implemented.
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Following reports of widespread bullying and harassment incidents, poor staff practices and declining morale, the ACT government commissioned an external review into the workplace culture of Canberra's hospitals.
The review was announced following mounting pressure for a royal commission-type inquiry, which eventually made multiple recommendations to improve workplace culture.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said staff were encouraged to come forward if they had been bullied or harassed and that it was not surprising the number of formal complaints had increased.
"The establishment and introduction of new structures and processes has provided further avenues for employees and managers to report issues and early reporting is encouraged to facilitate early intervention," the spokeswoman said.
"It is important employees and managers are confident about lodging concerns and actively having these concerns addressed. These numbers show that early intervention is occurring and matters are being resolved without needing to proceed to further investigations."
The spokeswoman said while a formal meeting of the CROG had not taken place since June, a workshop was held in August and an informal meeting was held during the government's caretaker period in October.
"The October meeting was classified as informal because the chair and deputy chair, the health minister and mental health minister, were unable to attend," the spokeswoman said.
"However, it was an extremely productive meeting in which ACT Health, Calvary and Canberra Health Services presented the assessments of each organisation against the organisational culture improvement model developed with the ANU School of Management."
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
