‘Quite appalling’: State failed nurse whose daughter died in hospital

A nurse who was working at Queensland Children’s Hospital when her daughter was diagnosed with cancer and later died there has won an industrial dispute over the lack of support provided by her employer.

Hannah Pringle, who has worked for Queensland Health for more than a decade, has previously shared her daughter Ruby’s story and campaigned for more funding for research into diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.

Ruby died in March 2023, aged six, only six months after her diagnosis.

Brisbane nurse Hannah Pringle and her six-year-old daughter Ruby, who died of brain cancer in 2023.Credit: Lemon Poppy Photography

In a case filed in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Pringle complained of having requested special paid leave in October 2022 but not receiving a formal response until after Ruby had died.

“Throughout this prolonged period of non-communication regarding my leave, my family shouldered a profound burden,” Pringle wrote in her submissions, noting that Ruby’s medication needs alone came to more than $40,000 and the hospital did not provide home-based palliative care support.

“My husband found himself compelled to undertake dual employment to sustain us financially, resulting in the forfeiture of irreplaceable moments with our terminally ill child, Ruby, who was undergoing daily palliative radiation treatment for her brain tumour and grappling with the loss of bodily functions.

“I attended all daily medical and therapy appointments unaccompanied by my husband, leaving Ruby bereft of her father’s support during these pivotal moments. I bore sole responsibility for tending to Ruby’s deteriorating condition around the clock.”

The eventual response, she argued, lacked compassion, and did not comply with departmental policies, which required such matters to “be dealt with confidentially and sensitively”.

Pringle, who also requested a transfer away from the hospital where her daughter died, had sought paid special leave from October 2022 to September 2023.

She was retrospectively given paid special leave from January to March 2023, followed by unpaid leave, which Queensland Health Director-General Michael Walsh told her was “proportionate to your circumstances”.

In a subsequent letter, in October 2023, Walsh reiterated to Pringle he had “a responsibility to balance the needs of our patients, Queensland Health employees, and the community we serve. Queensland Health employs over 100,000 people who all need to be treated fairly and equally”.

Industrial Commissioner Roslyn McLennan found Queensland Health had “callously ignored” Pringle’s application before making a decision that was not fair and reasonable.

McLennan said Walsh did not adequately consider Pringle’s circumstances, and wrongly sought to equate her situation with that of every other employee and their families, most of whom would have been healthy.

“Having regard to the parties’ submissions and the documentary evidence before me, I consider the treatment Mrs Pringle received from her employer to be quite appalling,” McLennan ruled on Friday.

McLennan ordered Queensland Health pay Pringle for an additional 20.75 weeks of paid special leave, including superannuation, and adjust her other entitlements accordingly.

In the hearing, Queensland Health argued, unsuccessfully, that the decision was actually made in October 2023, so the time for an appeal had expired, and there were no appeal rights for special leave decisions anyway.