Health minister to intervene after staff revolt against Sydney hospital boss

The state government will stage an intervention at Concord Hospital after staff revolted against the hospital’s chief executive over concerns including a toxic workplace culture and a backlog of radiology scans.

A majority of the hospital’s senior medical staff voted in favour of a no-confidence motion against Sydney Local Health District chief executive Dr Teresa Anderson, who presides over Concord and four other inner-Sydney hospitals, at a secret ballot on Thursday.

Medical staff at Concord Hospital passed a vote of no confidence in the hospital’s leadership on Thursday night. Credit: James Brickwood

The Herald reported last week that staff were particularly concerned about a backlog of thousands of unreported scans due to staff levels in the radiology department. One member of the department said there was a backlog of more than 30,000 scans.

Health Minister Ryan Park had an urgent discussion with Health Secretary Susan Pearce at the weekend and decided to intervene.

“I am determined to foster a process in which participants feel safe and listened to, and most importantly the outcomes of this process acted upon,” Park said.

“We can always work towards facilitating a more positive workplace that allows our staff to continue to deliver the best possible healthcare to our community.”

Dr Theresa Anderson, chief executive of Sydney Local Health District (left) and NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce.Credit: James Brickwood & Rhett Wyman

The vote of no-confidence was initiated by Associate Professor Winston Cheung, who wrote in an internal email he did not believe Anderson’s management style was consistent with the expectations of Concord Hospital patients and staff.

One doctor said Concord had suffered “a slow death by over a thousand cuts” and expressed concerns about the emergency and radiology department in particular.

Two radiologists who were not authorised to speak publicly said the department did not have the resources or the staff to get through the backlog of scans piling up on their system, meaning illnesses such as cancers and hidden fractures could be missed.

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter, but other times it’s a cancer that should have been treated, or something that needed immediate treatment,” he said.

ASMOF NSW, the union representing salaried doctors in the state, welcomed the intervention and said Park urgently needed to get to the bottom of the allegations raised by staff.

“As a union, we can’t know every fact … the minister needs to send someone in to do a review and see what’s going on,” president Tony Sara said. “Clearly the medical staff are split on this.”

The Ministry of Health will liaise with Sydney LHD’s board on Monday and appoint an external team to scrutinise evidence of strained relationships and issues with workplace culture in hospitals.

“The process needs to be supported by an external team with the appropriate skills and experience to create a safe holding environment where issues can be surfaced, competing perceptions and expectations explored, and ultimately actions identified for addressing issues and improving the overall workplace experience for all employees,” a ministry spokesperson said.

Sydney LHD said on Friday it was working to address the delayed scans and was contending with a national shortage of radiology clinicians, although there had been no cuts in pre-pandemic staffing levels.

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