The Canberra Hospital has been stripped of its accreditation for urology training over concerns about internal culture and "significant disharmony" among staff, ACT Health announced on Wednesday.
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The Australasian College of Surgeons withdrew training accreditation on Tuesday, a move the hospital said would not impact on clinical care.
Health Minister Simon Corbell blamed the decision on poor conduct by a small group of doctors. He refused to release the accreditation report but vowed to take action against staff responsible for bullying.
Last week Mr Corbell and ACT Health Director-General Nicole Feely announced a review of all training programs inside the hospital. Mr Corbell confirmed he was aware of the college's concerns before the review was announced.
The decision is just the latest in a long line of problems faced by ACT Health. The hospital's maternity unit this year received the shortest possible accreditation period for training programs, after an audit found ongoing cultural and bullying issues.
Last week a damning ACT Auditor-General's report found errors in patient data collection had cost ACT Health up to $3 million from under-claiming. In 2012 it was revealed patient records had been manipulated to improve reporting outcomes.
After their assessment of the urology training program - taking in surgery and care related to urinary tracts and the male reproductive organs - college officials noted a lack of respect and "mistrust" between consultants and trainee doctors.
The breakdown had created "an unsatisfactory training environment at the hospital" and will force ACT Health to apply for new accreditation next year.
Hospital management said it would work with the unit to address the concerns, including the
wo affected medical officers in the training program are being given support.
Mr Corbell said he would not stand for poor behaviour.
"The review I have launched will be made public. At the same time the government will be working to make sure the unit is able to be reaccredited promptly and on achieving that accreditation ... the public can again have confidence in this unit," he said.
He conceded junior doctors faced a stressful environment but said he was not aware of any other pending accreditation issues.
"It is clear that we have a comprehensive clinical safety regime in place that deals with the clinical safety of services provided right across the hospital," Mr Corbell said.
"Is it a healthy environment for people to work in in urology department? The simple answer is no and that is not acceptable and that is going to change."
Interim recommendations from the government's review are due within a month.
Opposition health spokesman Jeremy Hanson said there was mounting evidence of a toxic culture inside the hospital.
"I think its fair to say that if you have such a dysfunctional unit that it has lost accreditation it is difficult to then say that will have no impact on services.
"It is of great concern that we have such a toxic culture, not just in this unit but across health that it is necessitated for a review to be instigated by the minister ... we want to see the full review, we want to get to the bottom of this," Mr Hanson said.
