Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Nursing Union NT Branch Secretary Cath Hatcher

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Nursing Union NT Branch Secretary Cath Hatcher · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining us on the line is Hatcher from the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Nursing and midwif Reunion here in the Northern Territory. Good
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: morning to you Cash.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie Kass.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: We have been here in quite a bit over recent
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: days and I guess throughout this year because we know
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: that we've now had three code yellows at Royal Darwin Hospital.
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  Speaker 1: Kas from the nurses perspective, how are things going at
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  Speaker 1: the moment?
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  Speaker 2: Terrible. The whole of the NT is in crisis, not
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  Speaker 2: just World Darwin or Palmerston Hospital and not so much
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  Speaker 2: the other public health system but the remote and rural
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  Speaker 2: and remote areas of the NT. Everyone's in crisis. No
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: one can get staff to work and it's putting more
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: of an impact on Royal Darwin from the top end,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: with services being in the remote areas in crisis too. Chath.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: What is causing this?
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  Speaker 2: I think some of the extra work that's been impacted
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  Speaker 2: on the Royal Darwin of recent months is some of
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  Speaker 2: the non government organizations not being able to recruit or
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: retain staff and therefore this is impacting on services and
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  Speaker 2: more influx of patients from the remote areas into Darwin well.
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  Speaker 1: So we're seeing more of those remote patients obviously having
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  Speaker 1: to travel into the likes of Darwin to get the
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  Speaker 1: medical treatment that they require. Chas it sounds as though
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  Speaker 1: that's having an impact then not only on the Royal
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  Speaker 1: Darwin Hospital, but also the Palmerston Hospital.
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  Speaker 2: I believe though but not as much in the Palmerston.
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  Speaker 2: So there's also about sixty patients are non acute in
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  Speaker 2: the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Regional Hospitals that really need
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  Speaker 2: services in the community at age care facilities and dis facilities,
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  Speaker 2: and there's no beds in that area. So some of
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  Speaker 2: those sixty patients have been occupying beds greater than one
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  Speaker 2: hundred days in both the Palmerston and the Royal Darwin Hospital,
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  Speaker 2: so that's impacting on beds. So we need some more
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  Speaker 2: age care beds, more NDS facility beds in the community,
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  Speaker 2: and we need a purpose built dementia type facility in
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  Speaker 2: the territory which we don't have.
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  Speaker 1: I guess to talk about what is happening right now,
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  Speaker 1: I know that the NT News is today reporting that
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  Speaker 1: Royal Darwin Hospital was forced to repurpose award last month
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: to deal with a massive influx of mental health patients.
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  Speaker 1: In the emergency department as well. How big an impact
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  Speaker 1: is the influx of mental health patients having.
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  Speaker 2: It is, they have had an increase over the last
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  Speaker 2: four to six months. They're looking into why that is happening.
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  Speaker 2: It's not just COVID, but they haven't got the data
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  Speaker 2: to us for me to really nail do down and
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  Speaker 2: exactly what is happening. But yes, they haven't have had
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  Speaker 2: enough beds in the mental health inpatient facility, so they
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  Speaker 2: have had to close off one half of a ward
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  Speaker 2: and make another mental health inpatient unit within the Tower
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  Speaker 2: block of Royal Darwin Hospital to accommodate the extra patients.
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  Speaker 1: Cather when you talk then about some of the mental
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  Speaker 1: health patients that have been through the emergency department and
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  Speaker 1: obviously the fact that they've then had to go into
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  Speaker 1: another half of a ward but probably aren't in you know,
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  Speaker 1: purpose built facility that realistically is you know, is equipped
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  Speaker 1: to deal with mental health patients. I mean, are nurses
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  Speaker 1: concerned for their safety or are they feeling okay at
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  Speaker 1: this point.
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  Speaker 2: Well, they're putting nurses into that half award in the
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  Speaker 2: main block that have got experience with mental health or
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  Speaker 2: mental health background. And then therefore the doctors are also
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  Speaker 2: seeing them as well, So the other half of that
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  Speaker 2: ward did have concerns initially, but they don't have any
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  Speaker 2: concerns now. They're quite happy that they're there and that
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  Speaker 2: they are stable enough not to impact on the other
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  Speaker 2: half that would bryan their patients and staff.
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  Speaker 1: Cass. I know that there has been sort of a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people wondering whether the staffing of the Howard
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Springs facility falling under the Northern Territory Health Department rather
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: than the OSMA, you know, the way that it had
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: previously been managed, whether that was going to have an
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  Speaker 1: impact on our hospitals. Do you feel as though it has.
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  Speaker 2: It definitely has. In the beginning of the year, the
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  Speaker 2: Antique government said that it wouldn't impact, but it certainly has.
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  Speaker 2: They've had a number of and I don't know the
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  Speaker 2: actual figures, but they definitely have had a number of
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  Speaker 2: staff who have gone across to the Howard Springs facility
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  Speaker 2: with a better level like sorry, I'm just trying to
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  Speaker 2: find my right way. They've gone an increase in their qualification,
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  Speaker 2: they've got an increase in their level of pay, and
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  Speaker 2: it's a level of experience that you know they may
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: never get again within their careers. So yes, that has
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  Speaker 2: impacted on particularly four areas Emergency department, I see you,
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  Speaker 2: mental health, dialysis and Theater and surgical area of wal Darwin.
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  Speaker 1: Chass, how many staff? Do you have any idea of
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  Speaker 1: the number of staff that have gone across really to
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  Speaker 1: work out there and Howard Springs that we've then lost
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  Speaker 1: to the hospital.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, Unfortunately I don't have that number, but
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  Speaker 2: I'm guessing at around twenty pea patient, sorry, twenty staff approximately,
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  Speaker 2: maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less.
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  Speaker 1: Chass. You said right at the start of this interview,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: is that the reality is that we're at chrisis point.
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  Speaker 1: What's your message for the government today.
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  Speaker 2: They need to find better beds and facility for those
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  Speaker 2: non acute patients within Royal Darwin Hospital, those sixty patients
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  Speaker 2: that have been there greater than one hundred days. They
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  Speaker 2: need to either talk with the private sector about finding building,
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  Speaker 2: maybe buying some houses that they can accommodate three or
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  Speaker 2: four clients within their houses to get them out of
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  Speaker 2: the acute beds facility of Royal Darwin. We need to
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  Speaker 2: really cut back and look at the basics and staff
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  Speaker 2: appropriately within the Emergency Department, ICU theater and the mental
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  Speaker 2: health which they are recruiting, advertised and recruiting, but they
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: are struggling to find staff to come into the facility.
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  Speaker 2: The emergency department nurses always say to us that they're
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: quite happy when a code yellow is called because things
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: do progress and double bunking is ceased and patients that
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  Speaker 2: perhaps could be accommodated somewhere else apart from being in
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  Speaker 2: the acute Royal Darwin Hospital Palmerston Hospital beds they accommodated
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: then somewhere else. But it's it's the sitting at over
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  Speaker 2: one hundred percent capacity all the time for Royal Dahen
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  Speaker 2: Hospital is not a good thing. Their last couple of
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  Speaker 2: years and even before COVID they were sitting around one
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty percent capacity.
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  Speaker 2: Now they're sitting around one hundred and forty percent capacity.
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  Speaker 2: We also need to find out why there's an increase. Well,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: we know that there's an increase. We referral and transfer
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  Speaker 2: rate from communities that needs to be sourced and worked
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  Speaker 2: out why So I believe last month an increase of
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  Speaker 2: thirty eight percent coming from remote into world Darwin Hospital
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  Speaker 2: and that's impacting all of those areas as.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Well, Kats, I tell you what it sounds like. Our
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: nursing staff, our medical staff, all of the support staff
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  Speaker 1: out there are doing it pretty tough, and it's some
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: really hard work that is going on right from those
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  Speaker 1: remote areas right into the Northern Territory or into our
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: urban centers at the hospital here in Darwin and Palveston.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the pressure on the system is at the moment unsustainable,
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  Speaker 2: and their staff are exhausted and they're feeling like, you know,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: their jobs at risk, their registrations at risk. They're trying.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: They're very dedicated workers within the health system that they
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: are near breaking point and they just want to give
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: the best care to their patients, but they feel incompromised.
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  Speaker 2: They're continuously working double shifts and regular over time. But
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: that's going to hit and come to a breaking point
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  Speaker 2: at some stage soon, Chess.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: If something is not done here, what's going to happen?
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Well, I think staff are going to leave, They're going
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: to go into state if they're not going to get
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  Speaker 2: that support and the extra staff, which really I'm not
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  Speaker 2: too sure where they're going to get the extra staff
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  Speaker 2: because when I speak to my cohorts within the other
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  Speaker 2: states and territories, they're in very similar circumstances because other
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: staff are being utilized, as we know, in Howard Springs
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: or Alice Springs quarantine facilities giving vaccines contact tracing. So
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I know the government is working very hard to get
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  Speaker 2: those clinical staff in those three areas back to the
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  Speaker 2: forefront of the world, Darwin and the Palmerston hospitals particularly,
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  Speaker 2: but also Alice Springs as well. But it is putting
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  Speaker 2: a big compromise of this COVID and the vaccine and
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  Speaker 2: the contact tracing right around Australia with lack of staff
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  Speaker 2: on the foreground in the hospitals.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, kath Hatcher, we really appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning. I think that it's a really
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  Speaker 1: important discussion that needs to be had. We do want
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: all of our staff at the hospitals and in those
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  Speaker 1: remote areas, all of our health staff, particularly our nurses
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  Speaker 1: and doctors and the support staff there to know that
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  Speaker 1: we think they're doing a tremendous job under what is
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: very difficult circumstances and we thank them for the work
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: that they do.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And if I can just say to your audience
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  Speaker 2: that if you feel that you need to see a doctor,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: please go to your GP first and utilize their expertise
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  Speaker 2: and trying not to go to the emergency departments.
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  Speaker 1: Good call, Kath. I really appreciate you talking to me
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: this morning. Kath Hatcher, thanks so much for your time.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That's Kath Hatcher, the head of the Australian Nursing Amy
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  Speaker 1: BEF reunion here in the Northern Territory. Pretty explosive stuff,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, she says that we are at crisis point
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  Speaker 1: and we need to really make some changes.