Ballarat Health Services is expected to meet with the Health and Community Services Union to discuss changes to a review aimed at addressing an alleged culture of bullying and harassment at the organisation.
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The review was announced following revelations of a bullying culture within the organisation, with a great number of current and former employees speaking out following a series of stories published in The Courier.
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BHS originally stated it rejected “the claims entirely” before agreeing to hire an external alternative dispute resolution company to deal with the issue within the Mental Health Services area of the hospital.
The union’s area organiser Angela Carter said they were pleased the board had agreed to take action and make permanent changes to the culture which they believed had existed for more than a decade.
The union is expected to make five requests prior to the meeting which include appointing a board or subcommittee to oversee the review, for ex-employees to be involved in the review, detailed statistics on both staff turnover and sick leave across the whole organisation to be provided to them and access to and analysis of the People Matter Surveys from the past five years.
These surveys are believed to shed some light on the long term issues in the organisation.
The survey is designed specifically for the Victorian public sector with more than 140 organisations across the state taking part.
The Courier also understands a meeting has taken place between Health Minister Jill Hennessy and Wendouree MP Sharon Knight directly related to the problems.
While a number of employees in other parts of the organisation have contacted The Courier in regards to bullying and harassment, the number from within Mental Health Services far outweighs the other areas.
A number of employees from across the hospital have already made it clear they would not be participating in the review as they believed it would be held against them.
After BHS announced it would take action to deal with the culture, chief executive Andrew Rowe said the organisation was “extremely concerned” by the feedback received in regards to workplace issues.
“We are concerned about the welfare of our staff, and remain fully committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all employees,” he said.
