Townsville University Hospital Executive Fails in its Duty of Care

Townsville University Hospital executive fails in its duty of care

NPAQ is standing up for nurses, healthcare workers and patients.

President Margaret Gilbert is visiting Townsville University Hospital on Wednesday 9 November and welcomes the opportunity to talk to members and staff in the ground floor café from 11am.

The recent alleged violent death of a patient in Townsville University Hospital (THHS) has shone a spotlight on senior management failures in a system under stress. The tragic death of a patient in care and the many other similar violent incidents impacting both patients and staff in THHS are symptoms of a failing system.

Why do staff have to be attacked and traumatised and a patient is killed before the Board and senior Townsville management take notice? Has nurse/patient safety become a victim of budget cuts?

Hospital management presented staff with three explanations in as many days as to what happened. Now the alleged perpetrator is under constant police guard despite management assurances that there was “nothing to see here”. Why because management are paralysed and have no solutions.

As nurses, you will have seen many of the same senior management failings in your workplace. We can only surmise based on reports received that Townsville HHS management is paralysed and failing. This is what we hear is happening:

• Management ignoring/ not actioning RISKMAN reports that identified major risks and the problems that management should have fixed
• Senior management instructions to junior managers to delete RISKMAN reports from the system
• A nurse was assaulted by the same alleged perpetrator in the same ward just 24 hours after the recent death in care
• Miscommunication and disorganisation between senior management and operational managers
• Repeated staff requests for help ignored by unresponsive management
• Ward staff placed in med ward 5 without adequate training and lacking the specific capability to work in a ward of this type
• Ward staff feeling that their jobs were under threat if they spoke up
• Management told staff that they were removing security from the ward in the days after the alleged incident, why?
• The alleged perpetrator was left in the ward, when an immediate care plan review was called for. Could management not at least isolate this patient, apparently not
• THHS executive managers were aware of the incident but failed to act promptly, consistently or in the interests of protecting patients and staff until forced to by NPAQ
• THHS management knew of the risks this patient presented from the day he was handed over and there have been other violent incidents during his stay.

This is not good enough. The Townsville Hospital and Health Service CEO must be made accountable. The Chair of the THHS Board must take responsibility and stand the CEO down pending a thorough investigation into the systemic mismanagement that has led to these tragic events and the many others.

If we weren’t nurses we should be walking out on strike – nurses deserve safe workplaces.

NPAQ is very concerned about deficiencies in THHS senior management that may have contributed to many incidents and to poor staff morale. The THHS Chief Executive and the Board must be held accountable for the decisions and/or inaction that led to this terrible incident. This is not an isolated incident, recent examples:

• Sexual assault of a nurse in the Oncology Unit THHS in May 2022, we understand that the perpetrator got through an open door due to poor security practices in THHS.
• Also in May 2022, the same perpetrator attempted to rob a person in the unpatrolled THHS car park.
• In July 2022 it was reported that a prisoner escaped custody in the hospital and subsequently fell through the ceiling.
• There are also allegations we have heard of a patient being choked to death in the THHS mental health unit.

Can you blame nurses for wanting to leave?

It is commonly known that the culture in THHS is not positive and that there is poor staff retention, especially in nursing where staff tell us they are bullied, at risk and unsupported. There are too many occupational violence events for THHS to be able to say it is a safe and happy workplace.

Ignoring calls for help is abuse!

Where are the QNMU? QMNU is busy trying to get nurses to vote for a “dud” enterprise agreement which could leave nurses pays over 5% behind inflation. Yet QNMU members funds are used to support the ALP, your fees are not invested in members. NPAQ does support its members.

Queensland Health and the Townsville Hospital and Health Service must ensure that the Townsville community and staff witness an honest, detailed and impartial review covering all of the failures of THHS senior management. Executive management failures and cover-ups have continued for years.

NPAQ has already written to the Chief Executive, to the Board Chair, the Director-General, the Minister and the Queensland Police Service.

What are we going to do to make sure this happens? The Townsville community and hospital staff have been ignored by senior THHS management and the Board. And if Townsville Hospital management fail to adequately investigate this incident, the systemic mismanagement of many other incidents, misuse of the RISKMAN reporting system and the bullying and harassment of staff, then NPAQ will. We will hold senior management and the Board to account and we will refer our members concerns to the CCC.

THHS has no excuses for cutting corners on safety.   NPAQ cares.

Margaret Gilbert

President NPAQ