Health boss sacking stoush: What we don't know could hurt

They say what you don't know won't hurt you, but when it comes to health hierarchy in turmoil, it just might.

DIVIDED: Wide Bay Hospital and Health board chair Peta Jamieson and EX-CEO Adrian Pennington. Picture: Tahlia Stehbens

THEY say what you don't know won't hurt you, but when it comes to health hierarchy in turmoil, it just might.

Regardless of who is at fault in the sacking saga of Wide Bay Health Chief Executive Adrian Pennington, Burnett MP Stephen Bennett is right about at least one thing.

This is going to get worse before it gets better (see full speech here).

When battle lines are clearly forming within an organisation responsible for the roll-out of the Fraser Coast's two new emergency departments and the planning of Bundaberg's new hospital, the risk of staff and patients becoming collateral damage is great.

There's no reason to believe our health professionals won't be just that.

But even if our doctors, nurses and hospital staff don't let distraction or the heaviness of such public discussions about mental health get in the way, it is almost inevitable when there is this much unrest at the top that things will be missed and/or delayed.

In a post-Patel era and despite continued strain on our expanding hospitals, scars on our health system are slowly starting to heal.

Only clarity - both through answers and on the path forward will stop fresh wounds from being inflicted.

Originally published as Health boss sacking stoush: What we don't know could hurt