Damaged reputation: Launceston General Hospital will struggle to find new CEO, whistleblower says

A whistleblower says it will be tough to find a suitable external person to become Launceston General Hospital’s new CEO given its “damaged reputation”.

Nurse, midwife and Launceston General Hospital whistleblower Amanda Duncan. Picture: Chris Kidd

A whistleblower has questioned who will replace the woman brought in to fix Launceston General Hospital’s long history of cultural problems and weak child safety record in the wake of the James Geoffrey Griffin disaster.

Jennifer Duncan’s appointment as CEO last year was a key feature in the state government’s sweeping range of reforms, following revelations Griffin, a prolific paedophile, worked in the hospital’s children’s ward for 18 years.

Hailing from NSW with a background in senior hospital management, Ms Duncan was appointed to Launceston General Hospital (LGH) in February 2022 as director of operations before being named its new CEO in December.

Her appointment came after Eric Daniels, the former chief executive of both the north and northwest hospitals, lost his Launceston portfolio following last year’s child sexual abuse commission of inquiry.

Mr Daniels is expected to retire altogether this year – meaning now both the LGH and the North West Regional Hospital will need new CEOs.

Nurse and midwife Amanda Duncan, who has raised concerns over the hospital’s ongoing management despite the suite of government reforms, said it would be difficult to replace Jennifer Duncan with someone suitably qualified.

She said although the government wanted to recruit interstate or external applicants, the job would be a tough sell to talented candidates.

“The Launceston General Hospital not only has a damaged reputation in Tasmania, but nationally as well,” she said.

“Many people are concerned as to how the Department of Health will attract external applicants from other states and territories, to entice them to move to Tasmania and lead the LGH.”

Launceston General Hospital’s new CEO Jennifer Duncan has announced her resignation, with a whistleblower raising concerns of who will replace her given the hospital’s damaged reputation. Picture: Alex Treacy

Ms Duncan said Jennifer Duncan, who announced on Friday she was moving home to Newcastle for family reasons, had been clearly motivated to “pivot the LGH in a more positive direction” – but simply wasn’t in the job long enough to fix the hospital’s mammoth child safety problems.

She said Jennifer Duncan, and whoever took on the role upon her departure, was “going to have their work cut out for them”.

“There was decades worth of child sexual abuse, toxic culture (at LGH),” Ms Duncan said.

Department of Health Secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said Jennifer Duncan had made a “significant and positive impact” during her time in Tasmania, leading the implementation of “important and necessary” changes at LGH.

Her role, leading a three-year cultural change and accountability program, was also directly responsible for child safeguarding at the troubled hospital.

Ms Morgan-Wicks said a national recruitment process to find Jennifer Duncan’s replacement was already underway.

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