A regional health provider must fix a tense workplace environment in which staff have been under-reporting internal bullying, an independent report has found. Otway Health this week released findings from a review into its workplace culture, with allegations that ongoing harassment from senior management had resulted in at least 15 staff leaving across a 10-month period. The report outlines that Otway Health, which manages the Apollo Bay hospital, “must change” some management practices and step in to curb “inappropriate” behaviour of certain staff, with internal reporting system Riskman appearing “under used” and evidence pointing to a “definite under-reporting of bullying”. “A small number of staff reported that they no longer used the Riskman system to report issues, because they perceived that management only used the information for punitive reasons,” CWH Mediation and Workplace Relations consultant Chris Hicks writes. “This theme was particularly concerning.” Annual staff feedback surveys and Riskman data between 2011 and 2016 shows that, while at least 20 per cent of staff each year were reported to have experienced bullying, only six Riskman reports of bullying were entered in total across the five-year period. The report noted that while there was “certainly room for improvement” in many areas, there was not a widespread culture of bullying and that most staff “took pride in their work”. Problems identified included a “perceived lack of consultation” by management over extensive organisational changes; the intended meaning of emails often getting “lost” because of their “emotive tone”; and a “degree of disillusionment” towards the organisation’s values. It also suggested a small number of staff were only appointed to their roles because “there were no other available options”, noting that the “wrong appointment” can do more damage as opposed to taking longer to recruit.
