THREE health workers have alleged bullying in Queensland Health's Fraser Coast District, including one employee suspended for staring at a co-worker.

Queensland Health is already being sued by a veteran speech pathologist, suspended after writing a memo about staffing problems at state-run nursing home Yaralla Place.

The Maryborough nursing home was later sanctioned by the Federal Government for putting patients at serious risk and failing half of the nationally required standards.

Former health district nurse Moya Nicholson, who sent a damning complaint to the Department of Health and Ageing after resigning, said there was a culture of bullying by management.

Nurses were accused of "not coping" if they spoke out about working conditions and the neglect of their patients, she said.

Hospital patient support officer Kathleen Primavera was suspended with pay for an alleged "assault" that involved staring at a co-worker.

A union official said the health district was taking costly action against staff it did not like on vexatious and frivolous complaints that could have been easily resolved with a basic investigation.

He said the Health District failed to even report some care issues and punished those who raised them.

Yaralla Place worker Paul Thompson, who reported five cases of alleged patient abuse at the facility, was suspended with pay and forced to take a psychiatric examination. Yaralla Place was found to have breached its responsibility by failing to notify the Commonwealth about three of the cases.

Eighty-five nurses and support staff at Hervey Bay Hospital have written a letter of support on behalf of Quaneta Greenwood, a senior speech pathologist facing the sack after alerting colleagues to inadequate staffing at Yaralla Place.

State Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the Yaralla Place audit findings were "disappointing and unacceptable" and that steps for improvement had been taken. A spokesman for Queensland Health denied any staff were suspended for raising issues about care, citing other alleged infractions.

Source: Brisbane Courier Mail - Tuck Thompson and Tanya Chilcott