Overall Grade

Number of respondents

Gender breakdown

Gosford Hospital – NO CHANGE

In 2021, Gosford Hospital received a ‘B’ overall.
In 2020, Gosford Hospital received a ‘B’ overall.

Central Coast Local Health District – NO CHANGE

In 2021, Central Coast LHD received a ‘B’ overall.
In 2020, Central Coast LHD received a ‘B’ overall.

Do you feel valued?

Overall, 87% reported that they felt valued, which was more than the NSW average of 63%.

Would you recommend your hospital?

99% reported that they would recommend the hospital, which was significantly more than the NSW average of 75%.

What do you value most about your hospital?

“Excellent culture, feels like home, definitely a place worth coming back to.”

“Great area and patient cohort. Hospital staff are also very friendly – feels like a small close knit hospital.”

“Most departments have a friendly, vibrant culture that fosters education and training. I would recommend it particularly to junior doctors (intern/resident) as their career objectives are taken into consideration with term allocations and training opportunities etc. The Central Coast is also a very nice area for recreation.”

If you could change three things at your hospital what would they be?

“1) Better coffee and food (allow outside businesses to compete with current hospital tender). 2. More teaching by specialists. 3. In general there needs to be consistency across all NSW hospitals with regard to using same paperwork, protocols, IT systems.”

“Study leave, unable to get this as an RMO. More transparency with pay and leave, I cannot make sense of Stafflink leave accrual, I often am unaware if I am getting my ADOs as I should be.”

“1. Fatigue rostering. This applies generally to NSW Health. I have worked >100 hours in a single week on several occasions, with additional 24/7 on-call obligations. There is no recourse to take leave or a rest breaks in the interim, so I then back up and work a full Monday-Friday (approx 60-70 hours) off a very sleep-interrupted week. I have seen this practice across a number of specialties. Clearly this is a significant risk factor for clinical errors in the workplace. Other states mandate minimum breaks between shifts and incorporate fatigue pay structures to prevent this from happening. 2. Access to study leave. The hospital circulates its own policy on the matter that stipulates JMOs are “advised” to rundown excess annual leave balances in lieu of using study leave allocation. Study leave is for study, and annual leave is everything else! (travel, recreation, family, friends). The hospital should provide adequate staffing such that JMOs and trainees are able to use both leave allocations. 3. JETs system and unrelieved ADOs. This is a difficult topic as it is my view that interns and residents enjoy this rostering (sleep-in, modest workload with low responsibility). It is a mighty headache for registrars as they need to pick up the slack and provide additional support and supervision, whilst already working under fatigue. Additionally, the issue of unrelieved ADOs.”

Have you made a fatigue-induced clinical error caused by your hours of work at your hospital?

In total, 33% of participants reported that they had made a fatigue-induced error, which was less than the NSW average of 38%.

Have you ever been concerned about your personal health or safety caused by excessive hours worked at your hospital?

35% said they had felt concerned about their health or safety, which was less than the NSW average of 47%.

We asked:

• If you are unwell, how often do you take sick leave at your hospital?
• What stops you from taking sick leave if you are unwell?

Gosford Hospital scored above the NSW average on this domain, and this difference was statistically significant.

How often do you take sick leave at your hospital?

What stops you from taking sick leave if you are unwell?