Question Time

SA Health Workplace Culture

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:36): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about SA Health's workplace culture.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: An antibullying medical summit in Adelaide over the weekend was told that South Australia's health system has the worst workplace culture in the country and, worse still, it is putting lives at risk. Organised by the AMA, this summit, which was attended by dozens of the state's leading health officials, doctors, clinicians and other medical professionals, was told an AMA survey had found that throughout SA Health, the state's biggest government department, with more than 30,000 full-time staff, there were high rates of bullying and harassment, a poor hospital culture, fatigued doctors working long, unregulated hours that put patients and medicos at risk, and the Royal Adelaide Hospital was rated worst on almost all key measures such as hours worked, workplace culture, professional development and abuse from colleagues. My questions to the minister are:

1. Are you shocked by the findings of the AMA survey?

2. Are you concerned the survey warned that lives are at risk due to the appalling workplace culture within SA Health?

3. What is the government going to do to address the findings of this survey?

4. Has your office seen or requested a copy of the survey's findings?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:38): I thank the honourable member for his question. Just to clarify, I was at the summit. It was a pleasure to be there and to hear a range of presentations. The summit highlighted that the poor culture and bullying within SA Health is not a recent issue; it is a longstanding issue. This government is determined to address it.

In terms of the risk to patient safety, I think it would be obvious, some of the examples. For example, in relation to fatigue, obviously a health professional who is working long hours may be fatigued and, like any other worker, their clinical skills might be blunted by the fatigue. The other aspect highlighted at the summit, particularly by Dr Chris Moy, the president, was that disrespectful relationships between staff can actually inhibit patients getting the best care. He used an example on Saturday that I heard him use in the media as well, where a senior consultant basically slammed the door in the face—figuratively—of a clinician who was seeking a transfer from one ward to another. So respectful culture at every level in the organisation is very important.

The parliamentary occupational health and safety committee did an inquiry into bullying and fatigue, initiated, I understand, by one of the government members last year. I commend the committee for its work; it is being respected within the industry. I am looking forward to getting further briefings from the department in terms of their response. Also, in that context, I acknowledge the presence at the summit of Mr Stephen Patterson, the member for Morphett, who chairs that committee.

The other set of recommendations, if you like, that I am looking forward to receiving is from the summit itself. Dr Moy gave an undertaking to me and to the summit that he would forward the outcomes of the summit. I am looking forward to receiving that. The point I would make, and I know that Dr Moy shares this view, is that this is a shared venture. Many of the issues actually relate to medical professional to medical professional relationships. A number of them relate to management, which is within the purview of government, and of course the wider system issues.

Bullying and culture will only be transformed with a collaborative relationship. It has been a major focus of the KordaMentha initiative, it has been looked at by the parliamentary occupational health and safety committee, it has been commented on by the ICAC commissioner and the AMA provided the opportunity for the summit last weekend.

I would like to take the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the leadership of Dr Moy as President of the AMA and the AMA, as a whole, for the summit. It was a very interesting overview from a range of stakeholders with different perspectives on the culture and bullying issues, and I look forward to receiving the recommendations.