Townsville Hospital and Health Service to implement recommendations following investigation on nurse sexual assault

The Townsville Hospital and Health Service leadership have admitted there were systematic failings in their response to a staff member being sexually assaulted at work. DETAILS.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service chief executive Kieran Keyes with Chair of the Board Tony Mooney going through the report findings.

The Townsville Hospital and Health Service leadership have admitted there were systematic failings in their response to a staff member being sexually assaulted at work.

Chief Executive Keiran Keyes and board chairman Tony Mooney said they were committed to taking on the reccomendations from a Workplace Health and Safety investigation that probed the health service’s response to the attack.

The investigation found the health service needed a ‘sharper focus’ in response to patient-specific behaviour management plans, after the nurse was sexually assaulted by a patient while on duty in August 2024.

Mr Keyes said it was a “horrific experience for the staff member”, who has returned to work since the incident.

“In August last year, one of our nurses came into work just like any other day to care for her patients, except that day she was sexually assaulted,” he said.

“Our response to that dreadful incident fell short of my expectations and fell short of that nurse’s expectations.”

Having met with the nurse after the incident, Mr Keyes said she had been working with the hospital “every step of the way” in the investigation.

Townsville University Hospital.

He thanked the worker for her bravery in speaking up and acknowledged gaps in the system.

“She has been exceptionally brave in working with us to deliver this report,” he said.

He said the health services takes full responsibility for the “inadequate” response, particularly in terms of providing support for the staff member immediately after.

“We know that there were several missed opportunities to support our staff members better after this incident,” Mr Keyes said.

“We didn’t measure up and for that I am very sorry.”

Mr Keyes said that one of the most concerning findings was that many staff members at the hospital felt that experiencing unsafe patients was “just part of the job”.

“This behaviour that none of us would accept at the local shopping centre of the pub and we shouldn’t expect it here as well,” he said.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service chief executive Kieran Keyes with Chair of the Board Tony Mooney going through the report findings.

The investigation was undertaken by a specialist Work Health and Safety lawyer, a member of the hospital’s Sexual Assault Response Team and a consumer representative.

Board chairman Tony Mooney said he wanted to acknowledge the “pain and suffering” of the staff member and said the hospital would fully endorse all the findings of the report.

Four recommendations were made from the findings including to “develop and implement a clear user-friendly WHS critical response protocol”, “to develop and deliver a cultural change program to promote and reinforce staff safety, health and gender-based harassment’, to develop a “stand-alone health service-wide risk assessment for sexual harassment and sex and gender-based harassment” and to review, maintain and update manager training for sexual harassment incidents.

Townsville University Hospital.

A summary of the incident findings outlined the nature of the conduct was “unprecedented” for the patient, who had no documented history of engaging in sexual behaviours towards staff, but who has displayed “challenging behaviours” in the past including verbal and physical aggression.

Mr Keyes said with staff at the hospital dealing with patients from all walks of life, many of which are complex, it was important to improve the levels of safety to ensure the same response doesn’t happen again in the future.

“I am confident that we can take really good steps at improving the safety of our environment by resetting that bar of expectations for our staff by ensuring that in the dreadful instance when something happens again, we have a clear response protocol that’s easy for people to follow, so that we can provide the right support at the right time for our staff,” he said.

“We are seeing a rise of incidents in the community that none of us think are okay and we are seeing a rise of those in the healthcare workplace as well.

“I want to make sure that our workplace is as safe as possible for all staff.”

Mr Keyes said he would not comment on any specifics around monetary compensation for the nurse.

Originally published as Townsville Hospital and Health Service to implement recommendations following investigation on nurse sexual assault