Staff engagement levels across the ACT Public Health System have improved, according to the third and final report into the implementation of the 2019 Independent Review into the Workplace Culture within ACT Public Health Services.
Releasing the Workplace Culture within the ACT Public Health System: Third and Final Annual Review, Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith said the independent report marked the completion of the three-year Culture Review Implementation program and showed the ACT had completed all 20 recommendations from the review.
“Over the three years of the Culture Review Implementation Program an extraordinary amount of work has been done by the ACT Health Directorate (ACTHD), Canberra Health Services (CHS) and Calvary Public Hospital (CPHB),” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“The findings of this review show substantial progress has been made to improve workplace culture over what has been an exceptional period of challenges and pressure for all health systems,” she said.
“It also identifies areas for continued focus as all organisations embed cultural reform into their business-as-usual activities.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said ongoing work included finalising a system-wide workforce strategy, continuing leadership programs and measuring progress of culture improvement within organisations on a regular basis.
The annual report highlighted three key high-level measures of progress, employee engagement, prevalence of harassment and bullying, and the number and reporting of complaints.
“Across the three ACT public health organisations there has been a steady improvement in cultural maturity and slight improvements in organisational trust,” the report says.
“There have been improvements in staff engagement levels across the three organisations.
“However, there remain significant percentages of staff not feeling engaged or who are actively disengaged in CHS and CPHB.”
The report found substantial improvements in CHS in terms of bullying and harassment, with 27 per cent of staff reporting that they had experienced bullying and harassment in 2021, down from 44 per cent in 2019.
It says the ACTHD 2021 Staff Survey showed 12 per cent of staff had personally experienced bullying, but there was no quantitative information available for CPHB.
The report found the effort over the past couple of years to provide system-wide training and development had increased workforce capability and contributed to the opportunity for a more collaborative approach across the ACT public health system.
It made seven recommendations to assist the Territory’s health system to build on the progress made over the past three years.
The 65-page Review can be accessed at this PS News link.
