The health district that oversees the Broken Hill Base Hospital has defended its handling of bullying and harassment claims made by healthcare workers against management, blaming a recent "culture change" for disrupting staff.
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Former and current staff at the Hospital have levelled serious allegations of bullying and harassment by their superiors, saying the toxic culture under the Far West Local Health District (FWLHD) was allowed to fester unabated for years.
Anne Jones, a former Broken Hill Hospital nurse, was one of numerous staff members who said they were the victims of a concerted effort by members of management to bully her out of her position.
"I felt like I had a target on my back. I was a wreck. I was yelled at in front of patients and colleagues, I was completely humiliated. And this went on for years," Ms Jones told Fairfax Media.
The findings of an independent inquiry into nurses' concerns have not been released almost 10 months after it was launched in November.
But on Friday the CEO of the FWLHD Stuart Riley released a statement addressing the findings of the inquiry, saying the organisation was undergoing a significant "culture change" that some staff had found "disruptive".
Mr Riley said confidentiality prevented the FWLHD from commenting on specific allegations of employees but said the FWLHD is deeply committed to a supportive workplace where there is zero tolerance to bullying and harassment," Mr Riley said in the statement.
As part of the inquiry investigators spent five days at the hospital in, but "no information regarding instances of bullying or harassment of nursing staff by management was provided to enable the LHD to take appropriate action," the statement read.
Instead the inquiry found the LHD was undergoing "a significant change which was initially viewed as disruptive but increasingly was seen as positive in its direction".
"The culture change program that was underway needs to be supported more consistently across the organisation," Mr RIley said in a statement.
His statement outlined a number of other recommendations that came from the inquiry including additional support for less experienced staff and better communication with frontline nurses.
Nurses at the hospital met with the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association in September to outline the finding of the inquiry.
"Actions already underway aligned with the recommendations, considerable progress in addressing the concerns raised by nursing staff was acknowledged, and agreement was reached about further steps to be taken," Mr Riley said.
