Qld Health boss plugs Labor’s election campaign in monthly newsletter

A Queensland Health executive has been reminded of the importance of being impartial after her newsletter promoted Labor’s campaign and pledge to build a satellite hospital.

The boss of Queensland Health has been forced to remind his well-paid executives to remain impartial ahead of the state election after a high ranking staff member used her government newsletter to promote Labor’s campaign commitment and slogan.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service chief executive officer Deborah Carroll this month used a newsletter update to promote Labor’s pledge to build a satellite hospital in the Fraser Coast region.

“Dear colleagues, I’m pleased to share Premier Steven Miles’s announcement today about a satellite hospital for Fraser Coast,” she wrote, then quoted Mr Miles as saying: “We’ve already built seven satellite hospitals to take the pressure off emergency departments and give families access to free, quality healthcare. So if you keep me as Premier, we’ll build one for the Fraser Coast”.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service CEO Deborah Carroll. Photo: Supplied.

Contained in Mr Miles’s note shared by Ms Carroll was Labor’s campaign slogan: “Doing what matters”.

“A satellite hospital matters for the Fraser Coast,” Mr Miles was quoted as saying.

“We look forward to consulting closely with staff and community in the planning process.”

The incident prompted Queensland Health boss Michael Walsh to intervene.

“The Director-General has reminded chief executives of the importance of remaining impartial while conducting their duties in the lead-up to the election campaign and will do so again when he meets with them,” a Queensland Health spokeswoman said.

“The Wide Bay chief executive has indicated that sharing the announcement of a new satellite hospital for the Fraser Coast was done with the intention of informing people about what is happening locally in health. But, in retrospect, given the announcement is linked to the upcoming election, it may have been prudent to not share the announcement.”

Mr Miles on Wednesday defended the actions of public servants who promoted his campaign platform through government communication streams, saying it was “understandable” that they wanted to see satellite hospitals delivered.

While Mr Miles on Wednesday did not condone the behaviour, he said it was understandable.

“The Director-General has reiterated to executives in Queensland Health to be very cautious in their communications around our election commitments,” he said.

“It’s understandable that people want to see our election commitments delivered...we are talking about big investments into more and new health services.

“We even saw Amanda Cam yesterday welcoming our announcement of a satellite hospital, so even the LNP can’t help themselves, sometimes they slip up.”

Premier Steven Miles.

The spokeswoman said the service was focused on its job and noted the median wait time for emergency department treatment in Wide Bay was 17 minutes in 2023-2024, compared to 25 minutes in 2022-2023. 

However, the incident again raises concerns about the ­independence of the public service, coming just weeks after Junction Park State School principal Megan Reeves – who is married to former Labor minister Phil Reeves – emailed staff to promote a government election promise.

It prompted the Department of Education to issue a ­reminder to employees of “the importance of being apolitical and impartial in their communications”.

Originally published as Qld Health boss plugs Labor’s election campaign in monthly newsletter