Problems Persist at Toowoomba Hospital Maternity Unit, Review Finds

Longstanding problems at Toowoomba Hospital’s troubled maternity unit remain unresolved, an independent assurance review has found. Some changes are underway, but complaint handling and other parts of the service still need fixing.

Queensland Health commissioned the review in February after years of complaints from mothers and families. The latest concerns included footage released by a Toowoomba mother that showed her support person being removed from the birth of her son.

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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.

Independent experts examined Darling Downs Health’s response to five reviews and investigations conducted since 2018, covering 117 recommendations. The panel also drew attention to the time taken to complete the process. An internal maternity services review commissioned in August 2018 did not reach the chief executive until October last year.

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In particular, concerns raised in real time during care were sometimes experienced as dismissed, minimised or redirected into formal processes without meaningful response.

Complaints formed a major part of the new review, particularly complaints about maternity outcomes since Jan. 1, 2025. The hospital had no dedicated maternity complaints service, and the panel found “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.”

The review said concerns raised during care were sometimes dismissed, minimised or redirected into formal procedures without a meaningful response. It also found that policy changes remained “early in its lifecycle” and had not yet become routine practice. The panel warned that details from the 117 earlier recommendations may have been overlooked when they were condensed into Darling Downs Health’s Master Action Plan.

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early in its lifecycle

Queensland Health Director-General David Rosengren said Darling Downs Health was considering the review’s recommendations to strengthen the complaints process and support community confidence in maternity outcomes “as a matter of priority.”

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as a matter of priority