General News
27 October, 2026
Staff speak out over walkout
FORMER staff from the Mareeba Medical Clinic have spoken out about why 12 of them felt they had no choice but to resign from the facility.
A group representing the four doctors, three nurses and five receptionists said they left in solidarity over staff treatment – with eight resigning on Friday 9 October, and the rest a few weeks earlier.
They wanted to respond to a report in The Express last week which detailed Facebook comments and a response from Mareeba and Communities Family Healthcare (MCFH) chair Ross Cardillo on behalf of the board of directors.
Speaking to The Express last Thursday, Frank McCarthy, Taalei Chambers, and Rosanna Lamonaca, who represented all 12 who had left, said they had not “moved on” because of “retirements, other opportunities and lifestyle needs”, as suggested but had resigned because they could no longer tolerate the way the clinic was run and the situation had taken a big toll on their emotional wellbeing.
“We all worked as a team. We were, yeah, like a family,” Ms Lamonaca said.
“I love that job. Yeah, we all love the job. None of us wanted (this), and we hung in a lot because of the patients, and trying to support the doctors, until it just got to the point where enough is enough, it’s not actually going to change.”
Ms Lamonaca had worked at the clinic across 15 years as a receptionist; in recent years in a part-time capacity. “I only stayed to support the girls (receptionists) because I could see what they (staff) were going through,” she said.
Others to resign included Dr Grant Manypeney, who had been at the clinic for 33 years, Dr Sabine Saeidnia, who was currently overseas, Dr Patrick McDonagh, Dr Alexander Chapman, Tyler Martin an enrolled nurse (EN), receptionists Jo Sutherland and Tayla Portelli, and two staff members, who did not want to be named.
There were also two other resignations earlier in the year due to trying work conditions, the group said.
They also took issue with last week’s article in which the board said it had not been approached in relation to the anonymous social media allegations, and they were just “rumour”. They said they had made many attempts to formally raise problems in the clinic with the board, even requesting an independent mediation round-table to resolve issues, but that had been rejected.
Their concerns sprang from financial accounting reforms made at the clinic, with account errors, demarcation of responsibilities blurred, incidents of pay mistakes and delays – two staff spoke of having to wait two weeks and one week to receive any money despite, numerous requests to rectify the problem – increased and unrealistic workloads with no adjusted job descriptions or pay increases, lack of communication or consultation, and animosity towards staff.
On Saturday, Mr Cardillo said the board would not respond to new questions from The Express based on the group’s claims, which he said should be addressed through “appropriate processes”.
He said the clinic remained open, and patients were welcome to contact it directly with any concerns.
“Concerns about a workplace, and matters involving individual staff members, deserve to be dealt with fairly, confidentially and with respect for everyone involved,” Mr Cardillo said.
“A public forum doesn’t allow for that, and it risks causing unnecessary distress.
“For that reason, we won’t be commenting on individual employment matters or on specific claims.”
However, the board continued to “encourage anyone with concerns to raise them directly with the organisation”.
Mr McCarthy, an EN at the clinic for two-and-a-half years, said the lack of communication options at the clinic were at the heart of the matter. The only process for staff raising issues was to inform the general manager, who would then put it in a report and present it at the board meeting.
When there was no response from the board he “finally confronted Ross Cardillo, (who) said he’d never heard of a lot of the things I brought up.”
Mr McCarthy said although it appeared information was not being relayed to the board, the matter was not pursued, and it was a “we’ll be right, we’ll sort it out later,” conclusion.
For Ms Chambers, who worked for four years as a senior receptionist and trainee practice manager, her position became untenable after she was “written up” for accounting mistakes, which were not her doing, and threatened with employment termination.
“I was getting the blame for all of them,” she said.
“I had to fight to keep my job. I wasn’t even in the office when the mistakes were made.”
She went to a meeting and was “yelled at”, threatened with employment termination, and her evidence was not reviewed.
“And then a couple of weeks later, I get the same email. ‘You’ve been written up’, and so I continuously had to go and plead my case of why I shouldn’t be terminated. I got six misconduct letters.”
By August, Ms Chambers “had a complete breakdown” and was off work for five weeks.
Mr McCarthy recalled a dispute where he tried to negotiate a pay rise for the three ENs at the clinic. Two of the nurses received the increase, and one was inexplicably not approved for the rise. He said he had continued to push for the third EN but was told he was “more than welcome to just walk out the door”. It was non-negotiable.
A final collective straw was the request to have a formal, independent HR mediation round table to discuss the workplace.
The board rejected the suggestion and instead appointed its legal team, which is the same company the board used for its HR services.
Staff boycotted written requests for information, for fear of legal ramifications and because it was not independent. The final review said there was no evidence of any issues.
Dr Manypeney made a brief statement at the meeting with The Express on Thursday, to “set the record right” over his resignation.
“The rumours of my retirement are not true,” he said, adding that he was joining an existing practice at Amaroo.
“I want to express a sense of sadness that I’ve worked in this building, at this clinic now for 33 years, and it’s just such a shame that, you know, I’m going to leave.
“The reason I’ve decided to leave is not so much that I’ve been treated badly, but more that there’s just been these tensions, probably for at least 12 months within the clinic – disagreement between how the clinic should be run between the board and the staff, and despite us trying, this hasn’t been able to be solved.
“As an old guy, at my age, I like working with the same staff that I’ve worked with for many years, and that I trust and I know, and so on… and they have either resigned or given the intention to resign. And I really want to keep working with those staff until I retire.
“So that’s why I’m basically following them rather than me being the patriarch, or the fearless leader. And I think I can probably speak for Dr Sabine, I think she feels the same way.”
For Mr McCarthy, the resignations also meant a loss of good medical staff from the region. A nursing colleague had resigned earlier in the year after she was “absolutely hammered” with extra duties.
“She not only left the GP, but she’s also left GP nursing altogether, which is a shame because she was just absolutely invaluable to the community,” he said.
Another “brilliant” young nurse had moved to Melbourne because of tensions in the clinic.
He himself had planned to work at the Mareeba Hospital when he received his registered nurse qualifications.
“Now I’m thinking I’ll just leave Mareeba altogether,” Mr McCarthy said.
Mr Cardillo said in his statement that rural and regional areas often had difficulties attracting and retaining medical professionals and it was always “an ongoing challenge”.
The board thanked the staff who had left for their contribution to the clinic and wished them well.
