Canberra Hospital reveals some details of 'deep dive' into culture in intensive care

But it is understood some staff have expressed concern about the review, saying it was not representative as only 21 team members were interviewed and nearly half of those were executives.

Staff are also dismayed that a copy of the report will not be released, and instead have only been provided with a summary of the "themes and observations" in the report.

Canberra Health Services decided to conduct a "deep dive" into the culture at the hospital's intensive care unit earlier this year after a staff survey had shown a decline in culture.

The summary of the review provided to staff said it found there was a lack of response or support from management to staff concerns, decreased education opportunities, issues with turnover in leadership, issues with communication from leadership and there was a negative workplace environment.

The summary did not outline any specific examples or instances. Canberra Health Services has said no report can be released to staff due to privacy reasons, as the report dealt with the conduct of individuals. A spokesman said the report would be difficult to redact.

Some staff claim some of the observations outlined did not reflect the workplace. They have argued the review was an unrepresentative sample as only 21 out of more than 200 staff in the intensive care unit were interviewed.

Other staff have questioned why a review of this nature was needed, given these problems have existed for a long period of time and staff have been voicing their concerns for years while no meaningful action had been taken.

When asked whether the sample was representative, a Canberra Health Services spokesman said every staff member was encouraged to participate in the review.

"We welcomed the contribution of those who took the time to be interviewed for this review and respected the decision of those who did not or were not able to for a variety of reasons," he said.

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The review did outline problems about the number of nurses, both senior and junior, who had resigned or requested transfers to other parts of the hospital.

There have been concerns over senior nurses leaving the intensive care unit over the past year, after it was revealed 25 nurses left during the summer Omicron peak.

The Canberra Times has been told that more nurses have resigned from the unit in recent weeks. Canberra Health Services confirmed that five nurses had left the unit this month. So far this year, 21 nursing staff have left the unit. A spokesman said all of the nurses had been replaced.

Former Fair Work commissioner Barbara Deegan was appointed to do the review. She interviewed the 21 staff members and made recommendations in relation to this.

The review's recommendations from the summary were that the executive "be more visible" and for communication and complaints handling to improve across all staff.

Canberra Health Services division of surgery executive Lisa Gilmore emailed staff this week about the reviews and further actions the organisation will take to deal with the concerns.

In the email, seen by The Canberra Times, Ms Gilmore said a "culture working group" would be developed to address the recommendations and to ensure there was greater communication between the team in the intensive care unit. She said some actions had already been undertaken.

"Where issues were raised related to the conduct of individuals, these matters were reviewed and have been dealt with appropriately," she said.

"These themes and recommendations for action will form the beginnings of the ICU culture action plan which we will together share responsibility for devising and implementing.

"You will note that some of the actions have already been taken to address some of these observations, however together we will work to ensure that all recommendations and additional concerns raised are addressed through our collective efforts."

The Canberra Health Services spokesman said an expression of interest was open for staff members who wanted to be part of the working group.

"Canberra Health Services values a good working culture and will work through these recommendations to support the unit to become a great place to work," he said.

"Some actions have already been taken to address the themes and observations outlined in the summary report and we look forward to progressing this very important piece of work to improve culture within the unit."

Ashurst Lawyers, the legal firm that employs Ms Deegan, has been contracted to undertake two reviews into culture at Canberra Hospital's intensive care unit and cardiology department. The value of those contracts was $55,313 and $51,529, respectively.

In both instances, the firm was chosen without a tender process. Canberra Health Services say this was because Ashurst was on the ACT government's legal panel and had already passed a competitive process to be on the panel.

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