Longstanding issues at Toowoomba Hospital's troubled maternity unit remain unresolved, an independent review of the ward has said.
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review → remain → ward
The assurance review of the unit, released today, found that while some changes were underway, several areas, including complaint processes, still needed fixing.
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areas → release → processes
Queensland Health commissioned the review in February after years of complaints from mothers and families about maternity services at the major regional hospital.
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Health → commission → hospital
Most recently, a Toowoomba mother revealed footage that showed her support person being unnecessarily removed from the birth of her son.
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person → reveal → son
A panel wrote the report, which was prepared by independent experts who examined Darling Downs Health's response to five previous reviews and investigations into the service since 2018 and the 117 recommendations made.
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who → write → 2018
The experts highlight how long the report took to finalise: an Internal Maternity Services Review Report was commissioned in August 2018 but was not received by the chief executive until October last year.
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Report → highlight → October
Focus on complaints
A significant portion of the review focused on how complaints were handled at the hospital, particularly on maternity outcomes since January 1, 2025.
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complaints → focus → January
It found the hospital had no dedicated maternity complaints service and described "barriers to raising concerns, poor visibility of complaint pathways, dissatisfaction with responses, poor communication, lack of follow-up, and a perception that complaints did not lead to meaningful resolution or change."
"In particular, concerns raised in real time during care were sometimes experienced as dismissed, minimised or redirected into formal processes without meaningful response."
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concerns → find → response
The review found policy change was "early in its lifecycle" and not yet embedded into routine practice at the maternity ward.
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change → find → ward
"The service is still transitioning from a reactive model of governance to a more proactive, evidence-based approach," the report said.
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report → transition → approach
The panellists identified a "significant risk" that the specific details from the 117 previous recommendations may have been "inadvertently overlooked" when being broadly summarised in Darling Downs Health' Master Action Plan.
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details → identify → Plan
Director-general of Queensland Health David Rosengren said Darling Downs Health was considering the opportunities identified by the review to strengthen the complaints process and support community confidence in maternity outcomes "as a matter of priority".
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Health → say → priority
"Queensland Health values the opportunity to improve its processes and services, and I thank staff and consumers for their participation in the assurance review."
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I → value → review
Review accepted, new director appointed
Darling Downs Health chief executive Annette Scott said the hospital did not want to hide from its shortcomings and was committed to improving how it engages with women and families.
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it → accept → women
"How we used to do engagement is no longer meeting all the needs of this community," Ms Scott said.
"We don't shy away from it.
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We → use → it
We are ready to work with any women who want to come forward."
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who → work → women
She acknowledged the deficits in the complaints process highlighted by the review and said any complaints that were lost were "unacceptable".
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that → acknowledge → review
"I don't want that on my watch at all.
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I → want → watch
If things are getting lost then we need to learn from that," Ms Scott said.
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Scott → lose → that
"It's my job and my commitment to this community that we'll do our darnedest to ensure that we'll get better at this."
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we → do → this
The review also highlighted that Toowoomba Hospital's recently appointed midwife guide position, a dedicated support role installed after a series of complaints, was not well integrated with the mainstream complaints process.
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position → highlight → process
Ms Scott said a new director of obstetrics had also been appointed and noted that vacancies in midwifery roles had dropped from 14 per cent last October to 2 per cent currently.
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vacancies → say → cent
It comes after several senior staff from the maternity unit took leave last year and two directors of obstetrics resigned within weeks of each other.
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directors → come → other
Separate to the independent maternity assurance review, Ms Scott confirmed a review was being undertaken into a serious incident at the maternity service.
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review → confirm → service
The incident was categorised as causing "death or likely permanent harm which is not reasonably expected as an outcome of health care", under Queensland Health's Clinical Incident Management Guidelines.
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which → categorise → Guidelines
The Aporia