Sacked hospital board scapegoats to save Health Minister, says insider

The sacked board members of a beleaguered Queensland hospital have been used as scapegoats to save the neck of the Health Minister, a hospital insider has claimed.

The sacked board members of the Mackay Hospital Health and Services have been used as scapegoats to save the neck of the Health Minister, a hospital insider has claimed.

The fallout of Yvette D’Ath’s sacking of the entire board has left staff at the Mackay Base Hospital “devastated”, with one source claiming that the board is not responsible for clinical governance but acts in an advisory capacity.

“Despite asking numerous questions about the clinical care of the hospital they were never told the truth,” the source said.

But on Tuesday, Ms D’Ath defended the sackings after an investigation found inadequate care led to botched surgeries and the deaths of babies.

She said that she didn’t believe the board had the skill set needed to implement sweeping cultural change.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath and the beleaguered Mackay Base Hospital.

The minister had previously thrown her support behind the Mackay HSS board members claiming they had a “proven record” just months after an investigation was launched into horror obstetric complaints.

Asked why she sacked the board after pledging her support for them in March, Ms D’Ath said she “didn’t have the information I have today, that came out of this report”.

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“The advice I had at the time … I thought the board was doing a good job.

“But the information that has come to light, the details and factual information that has been confirmed through the report cannot be ignored.”

Ms D’Ath said while she was “mindful of providing procedural fairness to the board”, she didn’t think there was enough “willingness and acknowledgment” of what should have been done.

“Not enough work (was) being done to deal with any systemic issues leading up to what the report showed from 2019 to 2021, and to recognise the problems across the leadership and the need for cultural change across the hospital,” she said.

“As individuals, they’re absolutely committed to their communities, they wanted to do the right thing, what has happened hasn’t happened out of malice but the fact is it did happen, and it did happen under their watch,” she said.

In March this year, Ms D’Ath said board members would be reappointed.

The report into obstetrics was ordered in October 2021.

“By terminating the board the minister is terminating the Mackay community because the board is the community,” the hospital source said.

Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates slammed Ms D’Ath for endorsing the board in March. “How could she not be aware of these issues given the alarming claims were put directly to her as early as October last year?” she said.