'Shocked' Calvary Public Hospital Bruce doctors concerned with Canberra Health Services management, culture

A prominent doctor, who has worked at both Calvary and Canberra Hospital, has launched a scathing attack on the managers who run the government health system.

Dr Paul Burt, former head of the anaesthetics departments at both Canberra Hospital and Calvary public hospital, accused the ACT government of "dubious managerial competence" in its administration of the health service it currently runs.

"It's had problems in cardiology, obstetrics, intensive care, paediatrics, plastic surgery, just to name a few," he said.

"We would be handing over the management of Calvary hospital to an organisation that can't organise its own hospital."

He thinks two public hospitals in Canberra run by the same governmental organisation would turn the ACT government into a monopoly provider.

Dr Burt is a Catholic but said he was speaking out as a doctor of high repute.

"If I was an atheist, I would like Calvary to stay functional so I had an alternative to Canberra hospital," he said.

Dr Burt's annoyance at the ACT government was not assuaged, saying that some of the top hospitals, with global reputations, in Sydney and Melbourne were run by Catholic organisations.

He retired from Canberra Hospital last year but had barely a good word to say about the ACT government in general.

"It's just running a single hospital but ACT Health is just like a local council. They've got grand ideas but they are just a local council," Dr Burt said.

"I think they are verging on being utterly indifferent to the public view. If they want to do something, they just do it."

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said having one provider will create a more efficient and innovative health system.

"Canberra Health Services has a proud history of delivering safe, quality, person-centred care to our community, and has extensive experience running a broad range of interconnected services for people across the territory and surrounding southern NSW region," she said.

"This experience and expertise makes Canberra Health Services best suited to operate the northside hospital as part of its network of public health services."

The announcement was "out of the blue" for health staff and stakeholders, Australian Medical Association president Professor Walter Abhayaratna said.

"AMA has certainly received many recent contacts from members and non-members who have expressed concern about the process," he said.

"And we understand that this is something that's come very much out of the blue, we were only told [on Tuesday] at 11 o'clock, so it is a very sudden announcement."

Ms Stephen-Smith contested Calvary's claim that the decision to acquire it was sudden and unexpected.

In an opinion piece for The Canberra Times, she said the government had warned Calvary last year that compulsorily acquiring the land was an option if negotiations failed.

"Recognising that an agreed sale of Calvary-owned land would require agreement from the Vatican, the government also advised Calvary in April 2022 that it would consider legislating to acquire the land if necessary," she said.

"Ultimately, no agreement could be reached, and the government needed to make a decision in the long-term best interests of Canberrans."

Doctors have raised concerns about Canberra Health Services [CHS] management, Dr Abhayaratna said.

"They're asking questions [and raising] concerns about [issues with CHS] management, is that going to be something that they're going to have to deal with?" he said

"These are all natural questions for people to raise, given the sudden nature of the announcement.

"There is a bit of building of relationships that is going to be required."

Reports have revealed a toxic workplace culture of bullying at Canberra Hospital, with low levels of trust in management.

Dr Abhayaratna also said the small-hospital feel of Calvary was a big appeal for many doctors.

"Calvary has a different feel. It's a smaller hospital,"he said.

"There's a feeling that you may be closer to your senior line manager in Calvary.

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"Those issues do impact on whether someone chooses to work in Calvary Hospital or Canberra Health Services.

"I am aware of people who have made that decision [to move], that they would prefer to work in that smaller hospital environment without the bureaucracy of a larger organisation. "

Canberra Health Services CEO Dave Peffer has said while some staff are expected to leave.

Dr Abhayaratna trusted Mr Peffers' assurances that staff wouldn't change roles in the short to medium-term.

"I don't expect that the day-to-day experience of the healthcare professionals and the administrative staff in Calvary will change," he said.

"If that is the case, then that that's a much bigger issue, because it's a change in the job. We would not be supporting that."

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While Mr Peffer said most Calvary employees are employed as public servants, meaning their roles, wages and entitlements won't change, some work as contractors.

This includes Visiting Medical Officers, who may come from bigger cities like Sydney.

Dr Abhayaratna said the AMA was "very keen to know that in a jurisdiction where we are very short of health services staff, that we don't lose any staff as a consequence of this move".

Having the same provider across health services in the territory was a positive to the acquisition, Dr Abhayaratna said.

"We think that will allow a good governance structure that is very much like the rest of the country in terms of single provider having several sites, and it's under what's called a local health districts model," he said.

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