General News
23 February, 2026
Darling Downs Health Addresses Cultural Issues
After a recent scandal again shone the light on the Toowoomba Hospital’s embattled Maternity Unit, Darling Downs Health has committed to cultural change.
The Toowoomba Hospital Maternity ward has been at the centre of a scandal wherein one child died and another was left disabled after the unit failed to diagnose a fractured skull.
It should have come as no surprise as the maternity unit has been facing scrutiny for some time.
The inquiry which Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced early last week is set to install a three-person panel, which will examine issues raised about the maternity unit going as far back as 2018.
The maternity unit is currently the subject of two separate, independent reviews.
The hospital itself, having been a target of a number of reviews and audits, focused on concerns around workplace culture and patient care since 2018.
Darling Downs Health has, after the health ministers announcement, committed to implementing all fourteen recommendations from one independent workplace culture review.
“We have briefed our maternity services staff today, explaining how extensive their engagement in the process was, how the outcomes flow from what they told the independent reviewers and how these have informed the report’s fourteen recommendations,” Darling Downs Health CEO Annette Scott PSM said.
The recommendation stated: “In the review we could see some of the cultural issues outlined.
“This Charter should clearly define behavioural expectations and standards for clinical excellence.
“Participants identified some of the primary catalysts for disrespectful or unprofessional conduct within the Maternity Services arise from disagreements or uncertainty about models of care and compliance with the Queensland Clinical Guidelines.”
The recommendations make it sound as though staff would clash, because they weren’t sure what they ought to be doing.
Indeed the recommendations paint a picture of a poorly structured, led and managed maternity unit.
A workplace in which staff were, frustrated, confused and likely stretched to their limit.
As Ms. Scott said, “This review has staff at its centre.”
One would hope that the centring of the staff and the commitment to cultural change in the unit is meaningful.
Because if it has been since 2018, eight years, that the Toowoomba Hospital Maternity Unit has been limping along.
It’s not all that clear whether these recommendations are addressing the causes or just the symptoms.
“Today I spoke with staff to confirm that we have not only heard you but that we are acting on what you have told us....to ensure quality improvements made are sustainable,” Ms Scott said last Thursday.
