Health Minister Katy Gallagher has today confirmed that she has no intention of fully and impartially investigating the allegations made by Obstetricians in relation to workplace bullying, intimidation, and harassment within the Obstetrics Department at The Canberra Hospital, Shadow Health Minister Jeremy Hanson said today.

“In releasing the draft Terms of Reference today, the Minister failed to commit to a fully external and independent review into the bullying claims and is ruling out any further changes to the Terms of Reference into the bullying allegations.

“Currently, the Terms of Reference will not address why the doctors complaints were ignored for so song and were not acted on until such time that the complaints were exposed in the media.

“Why will she not even name the person/s who is conducting the review? Why will she not fully commit to releasing the full findings of the review? What does Katy Gallagher have to hide?

“The veil of secrecy over this whole ongoing saga provides further justification for why an open Board of Inquiry under the Inquiries Act 1991 is necessary. This review now risks being seen as an attempt to hide the substance of the allegations of bullying and harassment at TCH.

“Given Katy Gallagher’s previous attacks on the doctors who raised these issues and the ‘thinly veiled threats’ she and Jon Stanhope made against Obstetricians, it is difficult to see how this review will restore the community’s loss of confidence in Katy Gallagher’s handling of this issue.

“Why is Ms Gallagher still seeking to avoid a fully open process, why is she hiding the details of who is conducting the review and why is it that will she not fully commit to releasing the full results of the review?

“All this from a Government whose policy on complaints is simple - stop whingeing,” Mr Hanson said.

12 March 2010