Launceston General Hospita structural and cultural change to prevent future child abuse horrors

In addition, a dedicated Child Safe Unit with be established, and the North and North West hospitals will get a child safeguarding officer to educate on mandatory child abuse and grooming reporting.

The third meeting of the Child Safe Governance Advisory Panel took place in Launceston on September 20, where it became clear that urgent change was needed at the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) after details of child sexual abuse failures were revealed at the Commission of Inquiry.

"There was a general consensus of the panel that dedicated senior executive leadership focus on the LGH was urgent and essential to commence the necessary organisational renewal and achieve implementation of critical reforms," its communique said.

As part of the shake-up, LGH executive director of medical services Peter Renshaw, who gave evidence at the Commission of Inquiry regarding child abuse failures at the hospital, will be replaced with a new executive director, and a new deputy executive director of medical services role will also be created

Mr Renshaw is retiring and is currently on extended leave.

A new LGH chief executive north will be recruited, as will a separate chief executive in the north west.

Recruitment for a new executive director of nursing and midwifery in the north is also underway.

Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said evidence presented at the Commission of Inquiry was distressing, and highlighted the need for significant structural and cultural change at the LGH.

"The Tasmanian government acted immediately and announced a Child Safe Governance Review into the LGH and Human Resources, with a specific focus on the handling of serious misconduct such as institutional child sexual abuse," Mr Rockliff said.

"This review is well underway and last week the Governance Advisory Panel met formally for the third time, with the meeting focused on the senior executive structure of the LGH and the reporting framework for child safety concerns."

Across health, a new hospitals and primary care deputy secretary role will be created, to support the health reform and cultural change program currently underway.

A new statewide Chief Risk Officer position will also be created to drive and implement risk management across the health department.

"There is nothing more important than safeguarding our children and, while we await the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry, the Tasmanian Government is not waiting to take action where it is clear it is needed now," Mr Rockliff said.

"The Child Safe Governance Review's interim recommendations, and the measures we have announced, are designed to drive immediate change that increases Health's capacity, focus and accountability to implement and embed child safety across our hospitals and health services."

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