The Canberra Liberals claim that ACT Health has heavily redacted a Freedom of Information request for a staff survey of its Digital Solutions Division (DSD), and have asked the ACT Ombudsman to review the “baffling” decision.

DSD is implementing the Digital Health Record (DHR). The staff survey, the Division Health Check, comprised an online survey late last year, completed by 99 of the Division’s 388 staff, individual interviews, and three focus groups. 

The Health Check found that 76 per cent of participants felt inspired to work for their division; 79 per cent would recommend the ACT Health Directorate as a good place to work; 87 per cent thought their team supported a positive workplace culture; 78 per cent thought their team managed conflict effectively; 93 per cent reported their team enjoyed working together; and 86 per cent felt their peers and colleagues supported and encouraged them.

However, the survey also identified several “challenges”. Recruitment practices across the division were inconsistent, and staff entitlements across the division were not always transparent. Staff had minimal opportunities to attend learning and development programs and build capability. Staff did not feel safe to express their concerns. Many reported high workloads and limited resources led to fatigue and burnout.

Leanne Castley MLA, Shadow Minister for Health, said that all negative discussion were redacted from parts of the final report released to her under FOI, whereas positive comments were released.

“The starkest example is a section on ‘Identified strengths’ which has been released almost in full, whereas ‘Specific areas of concern’ is heavily redacted,” Ms Castley said.

Elsewhere, in a section on Free Text Survey Responses, five positive verbatim comments were disclosed, while apparently critical responses were redacted.

“Releasing only positive commentary and not the negative erodes confidence and potentially decreases future participation in the survey because staff could feel their feedback had been disregarded,” Ms Castley said.

An ACT Health spokesperson stated that the agency decided what information to release or redact in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2016.

“Some information was redacted as it included answers and verbatim comments to the survey that could be considered an unreasonable disclosure of individuals’ personal information,” the spokesperson said.

“Confidentiality is critical to ensuring our ability to conduct effective surveys that include honest and full participation from staff members.

“The disclosure of information that had been obtained with an understanding of confidentiality could impact the willingness of staff to participate in future surveys.

“A critical aspect to improving organisational culture is through building psychological safety for individuals and teams to express their experiences without reprisal or negative consequence. We are endeavouring to improve the opportunity for staff to share their views and experiences, which includes the ability to participate in opportunities such as a Division Health Check in a safe and open way.”

Ms Castley, however, said ACT Health’s stance was “puzzling”.

The pages released to her stated that all survey responses were anonymised, unattributed, and de-identified. Given this, she found it strange that ACT Health should claim that releasing answers and verbatim comments would unreasonably disclose participants’ “personal information”, which would in turn “reduce engagement” and “diminish … honest and truthful participation”.

ACT Health also stated its paramount duty was to “protect staff from experiencing stress and anxiety in anticipating uncertainty in this circumstance”, which “could … negatively impact on the wider directorate”, Ms Castley noted.

The opposition MLA is concerned that ACT Health’s redactions fly in the face of the government’s vaunted commitment to openness.

Last week, health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, speaking about the DHR, said she was committed to providing as much information as possible to ensure transparency, Ms Castley noted.

“The redaction of negative commentary goes directly against the Minister’s comments …

“We know this Labor-Greens Government is anything but transparent when it comes to the many failures of the ACT health system, and this heavily redacted FOI request reinforces that perception.

“Full disclosure would promote discussion of public affairs, enhance accountability, contribute to informed debate, and assist inquiry into deficiencies in the administration of DSD.”