‘Employees … bore the brunt of Mr Foster’s at times inappropriate conduct and performance. These employees had the right to a safe working environment and were not provided with it,’ the report stated.The investigation found that Mr Foster had been absent from work without explanation, difficult for staff to contact and often failed to attend meetings. There was evidence of him sleeping at work. It was identified that Mr Foster had health issues that had not been fully disclosed to his supervisors that may have contributed to this behaviour.
His conduct resulted in avoidable project delays. In one instance, his failure to complete the North West Regional Hospital helipad operations manual meant that the site was closed immediately after the Premier had announced its opening. This closure prevented an emergency helicopter landing the following day.
In addition, Mr Foster had gained personal advantage through:
- the exclusive use of a government-plated work vehicle intended to be available to a number of employees
- submitting on-call claims to which he was not entitled, and
- removing low value THS equipment and property for personal use, including doors and lights.
Conflict of interest issues included:
- playing a pivotal role in the appointment of a person well-known to him then attempting to conceal the lack of a conflict of interest declaration
- participating in a process to award a contract to someone with whom he had a long-standing association, and
- taking part in an internal investigation of false overtime and call-back pay claims that he had approved.
Mr Foster left the State Service in July 2019, a month after being served with the Commission’s Notice of Investigation.
Today’s Integrity Commission report follows its 2014 investigation which resulted in findings of improper procurement and recruitment by senior health managers Jane Holden and Gavin Austin, who had both held positions in the North West. The report noted that issues surrounding conflicts of interest that were raised in the previous investigation were still evident in Mr Foster’s actions.
The Commission’s Chief Commissioner, Greg Melick, said that conflict of interest remains a significant integrity risk area for Tasmania.
‘The Commission has maintained a strong focus on working with the Tasmanian public sector to improve the management of conflicts of interest. We recently began rolling out new education and training resources to support this work.’
Media release – Kathrine Morgan-Wicks, Secretary, Department of Health, 25 August 2020
Integrity Commission findings – Tasmanian Health Service North West
The Department of Health and the Tasmanian Health Service acknowledges and accepts the findings of the Integrity Commission in relation to a former employee.
We take matters of conflict of interest extremely seriously. We have strengthened policies and processes around conflict of interest and will continue to have these embedded in our workforce through appropriate training and support.
In addition, the new governance structures implemented in February 2020 across the Department and Tasmanian Health Service provide greater local management and oversight to better support staff and ensure increased accountability for service delivery and management of our people.
I can assure the public that the Commission’s findings primarily relate to one former employee in a corporate middle management role and the management of that employee. This employee was not involved in the provision of patient care.
I acknowledge the hard work of our staff in serving the Tasmanian community. I recognise that these findings are extremely disappointing, but they do not reflect on the vast majority of our workforce that has, particularly in recent times through the coronavirus pandemic, demonstrated exceptional professionalism and dedication.
Media release – Sarah Lovell MLC, Shadow Minister for Health, 25 August 2020
Government needs to implement lessons from Integrity Commission report
The government needs to ensure lessons are learned from a damning report released today by the Integrity Commission, highlighting historical cultural issues in the Tasmanian Health Service (THS) North West.
Shadow Minister for Health Sarah Lovell said the details in the report about managerial misconduct and employee mistreatment are shocking, and changes must be implemented so incidents of this nature don’t occur again.
“The report highlighted concerns about poor leadership – including behaviour that led to major project delays, conflict of interest issues and misuse of government resources.
“What’s more concerning is the report stated the THS had failed to prevent mistreatment of employees, despite formal complaints.
“Not only this, but past Integrity Commission reports into senior THS North West staff highlighted similar issues, suggesting systemic cultural issues within the service.
“The Health Minister needs to ensure the lessons learned from this investigation lead to immediate action – it shouldn’t take several reports over many years to make vital changes.
“Sarah Courtney needs to address any cultural issues that remain as a result, and ensure the THS North West is providing a safe workplace for its employees, where they feel comfortable any concerns they raise will be acted upon.
“It also begs the question whether this is a contributing factor as to why the government is unable to attract staff to fill important roles at hospitals in the North West, resulting in the downgrade of emergency services at the Mersey Community Hospital.
“The government needs to step up, take responsibility for the inadequacies highlighted in the report, and put in the work to ensure a situation like this doesn’t occur in the THS again.”
