The nurses and midwives union has criticised the cultural reform program into the ACT's public health system ahead of the imminent release of a major review.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation was so frustrated with the group overseeing the reform they left, saying progress was too slow.
The ACT government is expected to hand down its final review of the implementation of a major culture report in the coming week. The review has been conducted by former senior public servant Glenys Beauchamp.
An extensive independent review into workplace culture in Canberra's public health system nearly four years ago found troubling levels of mistrust and bullying and made a series of recommendations for improvement.
Following the release of the review, the ACT government formed an oversight group to focus on the cultural reform. Each year an independent review of its implementation is undertaken.
The group has members from ACT Health, Canberra Health Services, Calvary, the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation and universities.
The Health Minister is also in the group and is the chair.
The group is expected to cease following the release of the upcoming implementation review.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation was part of the group until they pulled out in December 2021. A letter sent to Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith from the union was made public this week.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT branch secretary Matthew Daniel said the union had to withdraw because there had been a lack of substantial progress.
Mr Daniel said it became untenable for the union to remain part of the cultural reform.
"It was becoming increasingly untenable for the ANMF to remain on that committee and not speak out. We had worked in good faith... we wanted to make that contribution to represent nurses and midwives," he said.
"But after that second report came out and it was clear not enough had been done quicker, our committee of management decided it was not appropriate for us to stay on the committee because we couldn't speak out."
The second report, released last year, found bullying was still a huge problem within the system. While some staff report bullying had decreased, most, particularly in Canberra Health Services, indicated bullying was still rife and little had changed.
Mr Daniel said one of the greatest concerns for the union was around human relations practices and policies. He said good process was not followed.
"We're still seeing examples where there's poor practices around HR, we're not convinced either that the health services have truly got a handle on the bullying itself," he said.
Opposition health spokeswoman Leanne Castley brought up the exit of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation in question time this week.
Ms Stephen-Smith said she would not speak on behalf of the union but did give an answer about the concerns expressed by the union.
"There was a level of frustration that the work was being done through the oversight group, in terms of that high level monitoring of system-wide recommendations, was not meeting the focus priority areas for the nursing and midwifery federation," she said.
"They had a very clear focus on three issues: safety, consultation and workload. Many of the recommendations that were being addressed through the cultural reform process did not go specifically to those issues they really wanted to focus on."
Ms Castley said she was shocked to hear the union did not believe the group was effective in addressing cultural issues.
"Improving the workplace culture for our frontline staff is vital in ensuring that the ACT has an effective and efficient health system," she said.
"It is shameful that the minister's group has been slammed by the union as not doing enough for nurses and midwives workplace culture in the short and long term.
"It seems that the minister and officials are more concerned about avoiding an embarrassing front page story than fixing the extensive cultural issues in our health system."
