Ambulance Tasmania recruited interstate experts to fix toxic workplace culture

A former Ambulance Tasmania boss (pictured) has spoken about the “stigmas” attached to workers who complained about mental health troubles or took time off on workers’ compensation after the death of Damian Crump. LATEST >>

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AMBULANCE Tasmania recruited interstate consultants to fix its toxic workplace and train staff “how to treat people better”, an inquest has heard.

On Thursday, former regional manager Peter Morgan gave evidence at the inquest into the December 2016 suicide of paramedic Damian Crump.

Mr Morgan said at the time of Mr Crump’s death, the workplace culture of Ambulance Tasmania “was very difficult to manage” and had no systems in place to manage staff mental health and wellbeing.

Former Ambulance Tasmania operations manager Peter Morgan.

He didn’t agree with suggestions that managers bullied staff as a discipline method, instead saying allegations of mistreatment weren’t “necessarily black or white”.

“If someone was doing the wrong thing, there was no real punishment for it,” he said.

“I am hopeful that things have improved.”

Mr Morgan said the workplace culture improved significantly after the agency hired external consultants “from the mainland” to fix its issues.

“There seemed to be a problem with the way people were treating each other,” he said.

“Everyone had to go through a program of learning how to treat people better … it generally had some pretty good effects.”

Mr Morgan also told Coroner Olivia McTaggart that some staff were worried about the stigma of mental health reporting and taking time off for workers’ compensation.

Tasmania Ambulance paramedic Damian Crump may have taken his own life. Picture: Facebook

He said one staff member had post traumatic stress disorder and took 12 months’ leave, which the worker described as “absolutely soul-destroying” and claimed he would never take workers’ leave from Ambulance Tasmania again.

“He believed it stigmatised him in the workplace,” he said.

Mr Morgan also agreed he observed a high degree of noncompliance with medication management policies due to the fact the processes were inconvenient and time-consuming.

“The law as I understand required the drugs to be locked behind two locks, it was a bit difficult to comply with that,” he said.

Mr Crump died after accessing Ambulance Tasmania’s drug stores.

The three-week inquest into his death – which has canvassed a range of allegations from former and current staff about a toxic workplace culture, lax drug control and minimal mental health support – continues Friday.

‘Cheeky’ employee’s worrying signs before tragic death

March 23, 2021

A PARAMEDIC who died by suicide spoke regularly of not wanting to live until 40 “unless he found love” and had asked his boss for drugs on more than one occasion.

On Tuesday, Damian Crump’s former duty manager and “very close friend” Monica Baker gave evidence at a continuing inquest into his December 2016 death.

Ms Baker told Coroner Olivia McTaggart the “cheeky” Ambulance Tasmania employee had been intelligent, a talented clinician – but his behaviour became increasingly inappropriate towards the end.

Damian Crump’s former duty manager and “very close friend” Monica Baker.

She spoke of Mr Crump expressing his opinion in ways that were dismissed because “that’s just Crumpy” and his often irreverent jokes with patients.

“He was the sort of person who could just get away with it,” she said.

“He’d never get complaints. It was sort of unbelievable in a way.”

Ms Baker also said Mr Crump had asked her for drugs more than once.

“It was always half joking but I’d always say … don’t be ridiculous, I’d tell him no.”

Mr Crump died aged 36 after accessing Ambulance Tasmania’s Glenorchy drug stores.

Ms Baker tearily recounted how she told Tasmania Police that drugs had started to go missing from the stores.

Tasmania Ambulance paramedic Damian Crump. Picture: Facebook

She said she didn’t suspect Mr Crump, so didn’t put his name forward as the potential perpetrator.

Ms Baker cried as she said “in hindsight” she should have done more to prevent his accessing the stores.

“In hindsight I would have turned off his swipe for a couple of days,” she said.

“(It was) my absolute failing in just thinking the police investigation would tell us what we needed to do, and putting all my faith in that. It was the worst thing I could have done.”

Ms Baker said Mr Crump often spoke about his plans not to reach the age of 40, but thought it was just “some rhetoric that he’d talked himself into” and was just a “silly thing that people say”.

The inquest continues Wednesday.

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